POKEMON: The Power Inside
by PokemonLegacy
Summary: Ash, 15, is finally on the verge of realizing his dreams! But as a powerful evil force threatens the universe, Ash discovers some life-changing information himself and his father. Will Ash be able to use what he learns to save the universe?
1. Prologue: Deep Inside the Endless Forest

A/N: This is a totally revised and redone version of 'A Savior's Legacy': New plot, new characters, etc. 

**PROLOGUE: DEEP WITHIN THE ENDLESS FOREST  


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Violent torrential rains shot down from the pitch black sky like bullets and descended upon the vast jungle-like forest. Accompanying the sheets of rain were blustery winds which howled like a starving Houndour. The storm shook the exposed tree tops with the force of a high-level Whirlwind attack.

Huge, white-hot crackles of electricity zinged all around the turbulent sky, high above the tallest trees which partially shielded the forest floor from much of the pouring rain and muffled the deafening roar of the storm. Only a few light sprinkles of cold rain were allowed to trickle down to the ground below the protective canopy.

The enormous forest, which stretched on for many miles, consisted of thousands of towering trees. From the ground, the sky was barely visible except for a few open patches here and there, but bright flashes of lightning still managed to briefly illuminate the forest's underbelly from the heavens.

At this time of night especially, this section of the forest's floor looked almost impossible to navigate as there were no beaten paths, and the entangled web of low-hanging branches, bushes and other vegetation dominated the area.

Only a few varieties of bugs and rodents scurried about the forest, barely visible in the darkness. This area normally teemed with life during a sunny day because it was many miles away from any city, road, or Pokemon center, which meant that no humans ever came around the area to disturb it. The Pokemon and plants were free to prosper and live without interruption…except for the chilly, wet weather on this night.

But a closer look revealed a strange and dark building standing within the shroud of vegetation.

The huge, mostly windowless, warehouse-like structure looked extremely out of place in this virtually unreachable part of the forest. The brown-colored building was camouflaged by the huge army of lower tree branches and tangles of vines and foliage, aided of course by the blackness of night.

To the typical passerby, the area would probably look like nothing more than a secluded section of this vast maze of nature. And in such a deep part of the endless jungle, the only people who encountered the warehouse were those who already knew of its secret location.

There was a faint flicker of light coming from inside through a small, dingy window, but it was quickly masked by a sudden flash of lightning.

While the winds and rain continued to toil above the forest, inside this mysterious warehouse, a storm was apparently beginning to brew as well.

The main area inside the building looked just as one would expect judging from the exterior. The interior of the warehouse looked like a huge airplane hangar, its walls stretching probably five or six stories high. There were no light sources inside as the many bulbs lining the ceiling had apparently all been shattered and broken. The only light, which came in through the several tiny glass windows near the ceiling, was supplied by the sporadic lightning strikes outside.

The building's entire floor stretched for probably the size of a football field. It was a barren grey color and had massive cracks in the concrete looking like a series of spidery veins, obviously showing evidence of repeated impact of some kind. There were also a few dozen huge crater-like holes in the ground, almost like a meteor had smashed into the warehouse's floor.

As the lightning continued outside, huge scratches, dents, and burn marks could be seen scattered throughout most of the cement walls. What sort of thing or creature could have wreaked so much havoc?

Besides the apocalyptic storm banging against the small line of windows, the hangar was eerily quiet and empty.

There were no people here, and the only objects in the entire gym area were several piles of scrap metal and some jagged chunks of debris, varying in size and shape, that had been cracked loose by whatever had destroyed the walls and floor.

Suddenly a sharp noise interrupts the silence.

_"Aaaaaaaargh!!"_

Someone screaming? Or…was it just the hurricane-force winds wailing outside?

_"Pleeease! Nooo!"_

No. There is was again.

Although it was muffled--obviously in another room nearby-- the sound was definitely a scream; a very high-pitched and terrifying female scream.

From inside the hangar, it sounded like it had come from behind the rusty metal wall on the west side of the building. It was a chilling shriek, the kind only inspired by intense fear or pain.

Behind that wall was a much smaller dimly-lit room. Only a few isolated flickering light bulbs remained; the rest had been destroyed. Broken glass and metal shards littered the smooth-tiled floor where a slender young woman in a white lab coat, who looked to be in her mid-twenties, was sprawled out and trembling in fear, half-lying down on her back, half-hoisting herself up with her arms.

Shattered laboratory equipment, Bunsen burners, glass beakers and test tubes decorated the counter tops. There were dozens of demolished computer monitors and other high tech equipment strewn about as well. And just like the larger room on the other side of the wall, this room had apparently been shredded by something powerful.

The whimpering young scientist, who looked like she had worked in this ransacked lab, continued to cower from her position on the floor, and let out a few pathetic yelps for mercy. Her long brown hair was disheveled, and her bright green eyes were full of tears.

The lifeless carcass of a Pokemon lay limp on the ground next to her. The once vibrant pink-colored creature was now red-stained with the blood that was still flowing out of its dead body and onto the floor around it.

A tall and imposing man with broad shoulders towered over the girl and her fallen friend menacingly, a crooked smirk just barely visible on his cold, angular face.

"P-p-please, s-sir," the scientist stuttered hysterically as she gazed up at the man in terror.

Her eyeglasses were cracked and crookedly balanced on her nose, which was slowly dripping blood onto her white coat like a leaky faucet. Her left eye was swollen and beginning to darken in color from being struck violently. Tears continued to spill down her sweaty face, which was scattered with various cuts and bruises. Her uncontrollable sobs had taken over her ability to speak.

The imposing man began to chuckle softly. His dark brown beady eyes could have burned holes through concrete with the intensity of their stare. The way he cackled made the young woman shiver with even more fear. She had just witnessed the brutal murder of her own Pokemon, and the chilling realization of how alone she was now was too much to bear.

"It was foolish of you to try to fight me, Professor. You knew how powerful my creature is. You knew your Pokemon stood no chance," the man sneered. He was clutching a glowing baseball-sized orb in his hand.

"P-Please, just let me go!" the frantic scientist wailed like a toddler. "I've done everything you've asked me to do!"

The evil man in the suit remained unsympathetic.

"Yes, I suppose you have," his raspy, baritone voice murmured. He paused. "Although…there _is_ one more thing…"

The man gave a creepy smile as he stepped closer to the young woman on the floor, avoiding the bloody puddle. He lifted her to her feet and pulled her close into sort of an embrace. The girl continued to tremble with fear as the much bigger man seemed to swallow her up in his arms.

"Professor…you are a very beautiful woman," the man whispered into her ear as he stroked her hair and gently caressed her back. "Very beautiful…"

The man started to aggressively fondle the woman and kiss her neck. He pushed her backwards until he had her pinned up against one of the lab's counter tops. He grunted as he tried to rip away her lab coat and force himself upon her. At first, the young woman was much too frightened for her life to resist, but as she began to sob even harder, she started to turn her head away and struggle against the man's attempts to remove her clothes.

Initially the man enjoyed the struggle. He laughed at how easy it was to restrain the petite woman despite her kicking and screaming. This continued on for a few moments, but after a while, he grew tired of fighting. He began to get angry. He had had enough.

The man stopped trying to kiss the woman and instead he angrily punched her in the jaw with his massive fist. She yelped in pain and fell to the floor, where she continued to whimper.

"Have it your way, bitch. I don't have time for games," the man growled mercilessly. "Perhaps you'd like to meet the same fate as your Pokemon."

He pulled a dark grey from the inside handgun pocket of his suit jacket and began to slowly draw it towards the scientist, who was still sprawled out on the floor at the man's feet. A look of pure horror overcame her instantly when she saw the weapon.

"Holy sh-shit!" she gasped, as her bottom lip quivered uncontrollably, shaking her head in frantic disbelief.

"Please, s-sss-Sir! Don't k-kill me! I-I'm sorry! I s-swear I won't tell anyone about anything!"

The scientist's arms and hands shivered like a seizure she clasped her hands together in a pleading motion.

"I appreciate the loyalty, Professor." The man in the suit said without much sincerity. His eyes, as well as the barrel of the gun, remained focused on the girl down on the floor.

"And you have done marvelous work, but now you have fulfilled your purpose…and you have learned too much about my little operation. I cannot risk you ruining my plans…Better to be safe than sorry, I'm afraid."

With that, the man with the gun firmly and calmly squeezed the trigger…once…twice…three times.

Unshaken by the two inhumane acts of murder he had just committed, the man re-holstered his smoking gun. He stared down calmly at the dead scientist who was now lying right next to her Pokemon. Both bodies lay lifeless in an increasingly large red pool of blood.

He spoke to the woman he had killed as if nothing had happened.

"Good work, Professor. It's because of your invention that we will finally be able to achieve our goals. I'm sorry it had to end like this…It won't be long now. The world will soon see what we are capable of."

With that, the man in the suit turned to leave the lab, but he remembered to retrieve the professor's research notes on his way out. After grabbing the thick notebook sitting on one of the desks, he exited the sliding lab door, and instructed the armed guard outside the door to "clean the mess up" as he strolled by.

His shoes' hard heels clicked and clacked with every step he made along the concrete floors as he made his way from the main laboratory, through the long hallway and down to his office, which was located in the basement, underground.

The man walked confidently as he descended down the short metal staircase and reached the glass and steel-trim doors to his spacious office. The normally-stoic man was almost giddy at the thought of what was going to transpire in just a few short days. Something he had been looking forward to for years now.

At long last, the time had finally come.


	2. Chapter One: Must See TV

**CHAPTER ONE: MUST SEE T.V.**

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"…_Tonight, on World News Nightly…"_

The nightly news' introductory theme music chimed from the small television set which sat alone on a wooden dresser in the corner of an otherwise completely dark bedroom. A male news anchor began to recite the night's top stories in a professional newscaster-sounding voice.

"…_Police continue the puzzling investigation at the Blackburn Island Prison, where last week, a death-row inmate mysteriously vanished…Investigators are baffled at how the convict was ever able to escape the maximum security prison located on the secluded island…and with absolutely no evidence of an escape whatsoever…Coming up later in the newscast, you'll see our interview with the Blackburn Prison security officials as they continue the search for the fugitive who remains at large…_

"_And later, meteorologist Eric Mathis will give us his five-day forecast and will talk to some area astronomers as a spectacular, once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon will light up the night sky all this week…we'll tell you when and where YOU can see this breath-taking cosmic event take place later tonight…"_

The T.V. news was nothing but background noise to the owner of this dark bedroom, who was sadly slouched in the queen-sized waterbed opposite the dresser. She sat all alone with every light turned off, wallowing in self-pity.

The girl didn't care about some escaped prisoner a half-a-world away or some stupid light show in outer space…her depression didn't allow her the time nor the energy to care about current events, only to sit sadly night after night in her dark and lonely bedroom.

Only the ambient white glow of the television screen provided any sort of light to the gloomy room. She only ever turned the television on so the voices and noises would make her feel not so completely alone.

"…_But first, our top story this evening…," _the news anchor's stern voice emanated again from the T.V.

The excitement in the reporter's voice caught the attention of the teenage girl sprawled limply across the bed. She normally ignored the T.V. completely, but for whatever reason, she lifted her drooping head so that she could see the screen.

"…_The entire world will be watching tomorrow, as the highly anticipated Pokémon World Champions League Tournament finally gets underway! Sixty-four of the greatest trainers in the world have descended upon beautiful Sapphire City to do battle for the title of Greatest Pokémon Master in the world…"_

The news broadcaster had now won the girl's undivided attention. She hadn't realized it was time for the tournament again already. Had she really been this caught up in her sorrows to realize it was that time again? Had it really been four years already?

She struggled to reposition her sluggish body on her waterbed, which rippled underneath her weight, in order to get comfortable as the program continued.

The T.V. cut to a magnificent aerial camera shot of the battle stadium in Sapphire City, the site of this week's epic tournament. The girl marveled at the extravagant open-air stadium. She had never been to the city, but the television's bird's eye view of the metropolis was certainly beautiful.

The city was a huge and bustling one with many big buildings, busy highways, and countless businesses and restaurants. Definitely a good place to house the many thousands of tourists and tournament spectators that would swarm the area this week.

There were what looked to be a million empty seats, surrounding a rectangular field marked for pokémon battles. Huge, towering stadium light fixtures bordered the outer bowl of the stadium. The arena looked gigantic on T.V. It would probably look even bigger from the field-level the next day when there would be about a hundred-thousand screaming fans packed into it, the girl thought.

She continued to watch as the screen switched to a live shot of a large group of screaming fans camped out in front of the stadium. They were all cheering, carrying hand-drawn signs, and smiling excitedly and waving to the camera in anticipation of the huge event. The long line of spectators waiting for tickets stretched for miles.

The girl couldn't believe how popular big-time pokémon battles were nowadays compared to even a few years ago. Today, elite pokémon trainers were featured on television all the time. They had become something like rock stars, and their loyal fan-bases had become huge in numbers recently.

Talk radio and television sports networks analyzed battles and trainers endlessly. Famous trainers often crossed over to the world of entertainment and movies. They signed big endorsement deals and appeared in all kinds of commercials. The most popular trainers had become superstars, plain and simple. The fans loved them, and in a few short years, the popularity of big competitions had skyrocketed because of their celebrity.

And this week's much-anticipated Pokémon World Champions League Tournament was the granddaddy of them all.

Only held once every four years, the epic tournament always made for a fan-frenzy because all of the most famous trainers from across the entire globe would be there competing in the same tourney for the right to be called the best in the world. Almost every match-up would feature a celebrity versus another celebrity. Must-see television indeed.

"…_four years ago, the Great Lance of Blackthorn City and his powerful Dragon-Pokémon battled their way to supremacy and took home the prestigious title as the greatest trainer alive. This year, Lance returns to defend his crown, but repeating as champion of the world will be no easy task…"_

The teen girl was sitting up in her bed by now, riveted to the screen, resting her head on her bent knees which she hugged to her chest. She remembered watching Lance win the tournament four years ago. It had been amazing to witness.

The anchorman continued on, reciting the background info about the tournament for the audience.

"…_Assembling from all corners of the world, this competition features the greatest collection of elite trainers anywhere on the planet. Each trainer has qualified, either by first earning the required fifty career gym badges from around the world, or by having earned the title of being an officially licensed Gym Leader, Frontier Brain, or Elite Four member…_

…_All qualifying trainers then competed in regional qualifying tournaments in order to determine which sixty-four trainers would compete here…in the World Champions League Tournament! _

_This year's final field of sixty-four is a mixture of respected gym leaders, E4 members, and other popular professional trainers, but also features a group of relatively unknown trainers looking to make names for themselves…That's the beauty of this worldwide tournament. It's not about titles, it doesn't matter how many endorsement contracts you have or how many fans you have. Anyone and everyone has a chance…"_

The screen then switched to show a visual diagram of the tournament tree which illustrated the anchorman's words as he began to explain the format of the tournament. The girl already knew how the tournament worked, but kept watching anyway.

"_In the first round…the 64-trainer field will be divided into sixteen groups consisting of four trainers each… _

_During the first round of competition, each trainer will battle every other trainer in his or her group once in 3-on-3 battles, with the top two trainers from each group advancing to the second round. _

_The second round will be single elimination for the remaining thirty-two trainers…lose and go home. 6-on-6 battles. The last trainer standing will be crowned and recognized as the ultimate Pokémon Master!"_

"Wow," the girl said to herself, thinking about how many people would be tuning into this event. This was definitely going to be a huge deal. The whole world was excited about it, and the winning trainer would certainly become a historic legend.

She was surprised at how many people really followed battles on television to this extent, but her surprise at the magnitude of such a tournament did not mean that this young lady didn't know about pokémon.

On the contrary. She was familiar with pokémon and battling…very familiar.

In fact, this reminded her, she had to prepare for a few battles herself later this week, right here, at her gym. They obviously wouldn't be as high-profile as the matches due to take place tomorrow in Sapphire City, but it was her job.

The girl jotted a mental note, reminding her to finish up the maintenance work on the battle field tomorrow.

"Ugh," she growled out loud at the very thought.

The flustered teenager didn't know why she even bothered thinking about work. She just wanted to crawl in a hole in the ground and die. She wasn't actually suicidal by any means, and would never act on her morbid thoughts, but lately that's how she felt. She felt trapped even in her own home, by the monotony and the loneliness in her life.

The girl didn't feel like watching T.V. anymore. She just wanted to lie in her bed, stare at the ceiling and feel sorry for herself. She got up to turn the television off, but she paused when she heard the newsman continue.

"…_After the commercial break, our World News battle experts will talk about some of the marquee trainers headlining this huge event…including Cynthia, the gorgeous former champion of the Sinnoh League…Wallace, the flashy and flamboyant entertainer from Sootopolis…and obviously, Lance the Dragon Master, the defending world champion…not to mention many more of the top names in the sport… _

_And later…we'll tell you about a fifteen-year-old trainer who is just days away from becoming the youngest trainer in history to EVER compete in this legendary tournament! So, stay tuned, we'll be back after these messages from your local sponsors."_

The girl's ears perked up when she heard this…not the mention of Cynthia, Wallace or Lance. They and many other famous trainers were dearly beloved by millions of fans, but it was remark about the fifteen-year-old trainer that caught the teen girl's attention. Something told the girl that she should listen to the news anchor and stay tuned to hear about this young trainer.

"The youngest in history?" The girl couldn't help but sound impressed.

To think, a kid almost the same age as her up against all these iconic trainers from around the globe. She was interested to see who this hotshot kid was. He must be good if he was thinking about going up against these living-legends of pokémon training, she figured.

The barely sixteen-year old girl stretched and yawned before coaxing her body out of bed and began to get dressed during the commercial break. At least she'd do something productive before the show came back on. Although…how could getting dressed at night time after spending all day depressed in bed be considered productive?

She had just turned "sweet sixteen" only a few days ago, but there was no fancy party, pretty dress, or big celebration. Her entire family was away, as were her childhood friends. The big day had come and gone, with the birthday girl spending the entire time alone in her room.

With the bedroom still mostly dark, the girl shed her pajamas for real clothes for the first time that day, despite the day being nearly over. She brushed her messy hair away from her face after she pulled a sleeveless shirt on over her head.

She stood in front of the mirror by her bed, trying to straighten out her bed head in the soft white glow of the television. Over the past couple of years, the girl had gotten so used to toiling in darkness all the time, that she had gotten good at performing her daily tasks like dressing and brushing her hair in the mirror with little to no light.

As she finished, a framed photograph sitting on the adjacent dresser caught her eye when the light from the T.V. reflected off of it just right. She could barely make out the photo in the dark room, but she had obviously seen it enough to know what it looked like.

It was a picture of her when she was maybe ten or eleven years old. Lately, the first thing that came to mind every time she looked at that photo was the fact that she was smiling. Smiling…wow. She hadn't truly done that in quite some time, at least not the way she was smiling in that photo.

In it, the spunky ten-year-old version of the girl was grinning from ear to ear from a true sense of happiness. She was posing in her standard childhood manner with one hand on her hip and the other in the air, her first two fingers forming a peace sign. Her stunning bluish-green eyes seemed to sparkle more brilliantly back then. There was a beautiful sunny, blue sky as well as a crystal blue ocean in the background of the photo.

And standing along side her in the photo was a young boy. Probably the most unique and special boy she had ever encountered in her life.

He appeared to be about the same age as her. He had messy black hair, with innocent yet passionate chocolate-brown eyes, wearing a blue denim jacket and a red and white baseball cap. He had his arm around her shoulder, and he was grinning the same goofy grin that he always did whenever he was posing for a picture.

Behind the two children in the picture stood a taller, older boy. He had dark brown spiked hair, and grinned for the camera with a happy vulpix sitting on his shoulder. Surrounding the three young humans in the photo were all sorts of pokémon of differing shapes and colors, everyone looking cheerful together all those years ago as the best of friends.

A slight feeling of warmth almost touched the girl until she caught herself gazing at the photo. But, any happiness she felt reminiscing about the past was instantly deflated when she remembered her that it was exactly that--the past. It was painfully different from the cold, lonely life she now led years later, here at the gym.

Just then, the T.V. news returned from commercial. The anchor in his freshly pressed blue suit returned to the screen, and now a guest, also wearing a suit--a dark grey one-- appeared sitting next to him behind the news desk.

"_Welcome back to World News Nightly's coverage of the Pokémon Champions League Tournament…_

…_Joining me tonight to give us his thoughts on this week's competition…is my guest, the former president of the Pokémon League Competition Committee…the honorable Mr. Charles Goodshow!"_

The girl recognized this little old man as well. She had met him at one of the regional Pokémon League competitions a few years back. He looked a few years older now, but the short, elderly man still had his long white hair with matching beard.

"_..Mr. Goodshow, from what you've seen from the field of elite trainers during your years as president of the Pokémon League, who are some of the trainers you recommend that the people watching at home should be keeping an eye on?"_

The old man sort of looked like a diminutive Santa Clause as he spoke in his scraggily voice, the girl thought to herself.

"_Well, obviously there are former champions, powerful gym leaders, and even Elite Four Masters battling in this competition, and their impressive reputations are enough to make people want to watch…"_

The two men bantered back and forth about many of the elite celebrity trainers, debating about whether each of them could win the entire tournament.

Lieutenant Surge, the brash and powerful Kanto gym leader. The gorgeous Elite Four members Lorelei, Karen, Glacia and Phoebe, each a big hit with many male fans for obvious reasons. Not to mention former league winners like Cynthia, Wallace, Drake, and of course, Lance…all of whom would be in the same town at the same time later this week, competing in the same championship for the same title!

"_There are so many unbelievably powerful trainers and pokémon due to compete in this tournament, I couldn't possibly pick a favorite!" _Goodshow raved. He was obviously just as excited as every other fan.

The girl finished recklessly brushing her shoulder-length hair and sat down on the cold floor right in front of the television.

Most fans knew who these famous trainers were, but she had been lucky enough to actually meet many of them during her many childhood adventures years ago. The more familiar names that were mentioned as participants, the more interested the girl became in this competition.

After a few minutes of analysis, the reporter asked Mr. Goodshow another question.

"_Alright, Mr. Goodshow, we've talked at length about the stars of this competition. But what about some of the lesser-known trainers in the field? Is there anyone in particular that could surprise people this week with a strong showing?"_

Goodshow continued on about several of the lesser-known trainers. He broke down their battling styles, their pokémon, and their past accomplishments for the viewing audience. The man was like a walking, talking encyclopedia with his knowledge of every trainer.

Still lying on her hardwood bedroom floor with her head resting on his hands, the teen girl was beginning to get tired even though she had been in bed all day. She yawned. She wished the show would hurry and get to the part she wanted to see about the fifteen-year-old trainer. She needed to try to get some actual sleep before work in the morning.

She began to frown at the thought of doing nothing but gym battles against snotty young trainers all day tomorrow, not the mention the mounds of paper work she had to get done regarding the gym's finances this week. Work sucked.

The girl sighed. She remembered when her life used to be worth living. She had once lived a life filled with adventure, surprise and excitement, surrounded by friends. Something new and unusual around every corner…each day leading to a new journey.

But not anymore. Not since she had been forced to leave her friends all those years ago. She hated to think about that day but--

She stopped in the middle of her thought when the tournament coverage with the anchor and Goodshow continued.

This was the part she had been waiting for.

"…_And finally, for fans looking for an underdog to cheer for this week, who should they watch for, Mr. Goodshow?" _The anchor turned to the tiny old man as he asked the question.

The girl's turquoise eyes bugged out in shock at what she saw next. She gasped deeply, doing a double-take towards the screen, making sure she was seeing and hearing clearly.

"_Well…the biggest underdog is definitely the young kid,"_ Goodshow said, answering the reporter's question with his expert opinion.

"_Ah, you must mean the youngest trainer to ever compete in this legendary tournament…_

…_Ash Ketchum from the town of Pallet…"_

She could only stare at the young trainer's picture on the T.V. screen as it appeared at the exact moment that Goodshow mentioned him, his youthful, exuberant face staring back at her from the T.V.

The girl just sat there, dumbfounded with her mouth wide open. Her tired eyes had been shocked awake and just stared at the television as they flashed various video highlight clips of the young boy battling with his pokémon.

Her heart began to thump hard and fast, and her breathing began to get heavier and heavier. Her cheeks felt strangely hot. She couldn't move a muscle. Was she really seeing this!? Were these big, important newsmen really talking about…Ash? Her Ash? The girl hoped this wasn't some sort of dream.

The anchor then recited some biographical information about Ketchum, much like he had done with some of the other trainers who were not as well known, so that the public could be introduced to them before seeing them on television all week.

"…_At fifteen years of age, Ash Ketchum from Kanto's Pallet Town will make history later this week, when he will become the youngest trainer to ever step onto the battlefield as a participant in the Pokémon World Champions League tournament…"_

The girl still could not believe it.

All she could do was stare in amazement at the T.V. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, but restrained herself. There he was…Ash and his familiar intensity during battle. His familiar black hair peaking out from underneath his hat as he and his pokémon were shown in action. The video highlights of Ash that the news program was using made him look incredibly heroic, in the girl's opinion.

She rubbed her eyes vigorously with her hands. This had to be a dream!

"…_Ketchum has accomplished many feats during his young career, including the Orange League and Kanto Battle Frontier championships several years ago. He's also posted strong performances in the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh Leagues in the past, as well as some great battles with some of the world's best…"_

Much like many of the trainers featured on the program earlier, the teenage girl knew this trainer as well.

But this was so much different than simply having met stars like Lance, Surge, or Mr. Goodshow a few times or seeing them from afar in public.

This boy--Ash--was the same boy who stood next to her in that photo on her dresser. The boy with whom she had once shared countless adventures as she followed him on his quest to be the greatest pokémon trainer in the world when they were both younger.

She and Ash together. At that point in their lives the two of them were best friends and had been inseparable.

"…_Recently, Ketchum has been traveling the freezing cold arctic terrain of the rugged Tundrus Region located in the northern-most part of the planet. But he returned home a few months ago to his native Kanto after he earned his fiftieth career gym badge during his journey around the Tundrus League circuit. _

_With the required fifty badges finally in his possession, Ketchum stormed through last month's regional qualifying tournament and earned one of the coveted sixty-four spots to this week's extravaganza!"_

The girl almost burst with pride when she heard of all of Ash's recent accomplishments. It had been so long since she had talked with him. But that proud feeling ceased when the newsman started to voice his opinion about the young trainer.

"…_However, there are many people who believe that Ketchum is simply too young and inexperienced…and his pokémon are too weak for the teen to belong here with all these legendary trainers."_

Oh man. The girl thought to herself as she watched. Good thing Ash wasn't here to hear them calling his pokémon 'weak.' He'd be furious.

"_I think Ketchum is a talented kid with a bright future," _the reporter continued. _"But, come on. You don't really think this kid can beat any of the top trainers in the world do you? I mean, he's only fifteen, he has never competed in a tournament of this magnitude, and his best pokémon is a scrawny little pikachu!"_

The girl scowled at hearing this idiot criticize Ash's ability as well as his pokémon's. What did he know about Ash? They didn't know him like she did…or used to, anyway.

She and Ash had been through so much together when they were kids, their friendship had bloomed over the years--perhaps into something more than friendship.

That is, until she had been forced to leave him and the rest of her friends to return home. Again, any excitement or happiness she felt upon seeing the boy's face on T.V. vanished and turned to black sadness when she remembered having to leave his side a few years back.

"_I have seen him battle before, and the kid does have heart," _Goodshow admitted. "_But I agree. I think Ketchum and his pokémon are still too inexperienced to have any sort of real chance this week. He got a little lucky in the Kanto Regional Qualifying Tournament I think…"_

"Oh, shut up, morons!" the girl shouted out loud at the old man's answer.

Why did everyone underestimate Ash? They thought Ash was just lucky to get here? He had just as a chance as anyone else! But the teen tried not to dwell on the so-called experts' opinion. She believed in him even if no one else did.

The girl lifted herself off of the cold floor and crawled back into her bed. She wrapped herself in the covers as she reminisced about her past life, before she was confined to this place. It had been over five years since she had returned home from traveling with Ash and his pokémon on his adventures.

"How did it get to be so long ago?" she always wondered.

"…_Ketchum's heart and determination are the only things really going for him. I just don't think he can handle this kind of competition," _said the reporter. _"I Just hope the kid doesn't embarrass himself out there."_

As Ash's segment finished on the television, the girl finally allowed herself to try to get her head around what she had just watched. Still in awe over seeing his face again, she nearly allowed a small smirk to creep onto her face at the T.V. commentators' lack of faith in Ash's abilities.

If the boy was anything like he was when they were both ten years old, he would find a way to prove these naysayers wrong.

"…_That will wrap up this pre-Pokémon World Champions League segment of World News Nightly," _the announcer said. _"…Thanks to Mr. Charles Goodshow for joining us tonight!"_

"_Thanks for having me, Jim." _

"_When World News Nightly returns from commercial…we'll talk about the mysterious events that occurred at the Blackburn Island Prison earlier this week…"_

The girl tuned out the television again now that their Pokémon League segment was over. She remained in her bed now thinking about Ash. She missed him dearly.

She thought about how ever since she'd left him to be imprisoned by the responsibilities of the family gym and haunted by the loneliness of not having him with her, she had not smiled very much. She rarely ate, she slept at weird hours, she couldn't stand interacting with other people, and she confined herself to her bedroom for hours and hours at a time.

The last time she remembered smiling was when she had spoken to Ash on the videophone maybe a year ago.

She and him used to talk almost everyday over the phone for the first year or so after the two split. And she had even got to see him from time to time on visits. He would beam while telling her of his latest adventure or bragging about the newest pokémon he had captured. She would complain to him about how boring the life of a gym leader was. They would talk about old times, old friends. They'd laugh.

But for one reason or another, she and Ash had started to drift apart as the weeks, months, and years started to pass by. She had definitely developed a feeling beyond friendship for Ash during their travels together, which was made even more obvious to her when they were apart.

But she couldn't tell him. She feared that their beautiful friendship could be tarnished if she ever revealed her true feelings to Ash and he did not share them. She also didn't want to interfere with his obviously bright future as an elite pokémon trainer. Plus, she was only a child then. How could she be sure at that age exactly what she was feeling for sure? Although now, seeing his face on T.V. was enough to remind her of those feelings from the past…and they were definitely real.

She never opened up to Ash about her feelings about him back then, and she naturally became sadder and sadder with each day she spent alone in the gym away from him. As her mood continued to deteriorate over time, the phone calls and weekend visits between the two youngsters became less and less frequent.

She just figured Ash had forgotten about her…or worse, he had stopped caring.

She knew, at least, that he had cared about her at one point. She thought back to that day when she, Ash and their other good friend, Brock, split up following their journey through the Johto Region over five years ago.

She remembered how Ash had looked at her when he realized he wouldn't be traveling with her everyday anymore. She remembered how he had told her that the two of them were meant to meet and become friends. She remembered seeing what she thought was a tear fall from Ash's glistening brown eyes just before they went their separate ways.

Then she started to think about tonight, and how incredible it was to see him on television after all this time. He had really done it. He had made it!

That overzealous little boy--whom she had accidentally fished out of the river and followed around everywhere after he'd destroyed her bicycle--was so close to actually accomplishing what he had originally set out to do all those years ago.

She remembered Ash always saying, "I'm going to be a Pokémon Master someday," and always she dismissed it as bravado or childish, unrealistic crazy-talk that kids often say. But, wow. He had actually made it to the big time, and at only fifteen.

"He must be so excited right now…," she said out loud to nobody, as she resisted the feeling of pride for Ash that began to creep in.

She remembered how he would nearly pass out from excitement before even local gym battles…how must he be feeling before the most prestigious tournament in the world? She thought about all the memories the two had shared together.

"I need to be there," she said almost out of nowhere, as she stared into space. She was shocked when she heard the words escape from her lips.

She repeated it in her head a few times, trying to decide whether this crazy idea she had stewing in her mind was actually real or just a delusional fantasy.

"Come on, that's stupid," the girl second-guessed. But as she thought about it more and more, the lunacy of the idea seemed to weaken.

He had always been there for her up until they'd split up years ago. She and Ash had been through so much together during their childhood that she felt like she had to be there for him now. She wanted him to know that she still cared about him. She remembered back to what she had promised herself back when she was ten years old.

_"Ash will never really be alone because he has…me."_

Even if he didn't need it, and even though years had passed since she had last seen him, she felt like she owed it to him to be there to support him in person. She had to keep her promise. It was now or never. This was the biggest moment of his training life, she had to be there with him.

But she was terrified to leave her safe, dark bedroom. Her tired and depressed brain pleaded with her to reconsider and return to her warm soft bed. Did she really want to confront Ash all of a sudden after not speaking to him in years? Did she really want to put herself on the line like that? What if he didn't want her to be there?

Her mind began to argue vehemently with her heart. Was she really thinking about doing this?

Finally, she made up her mind. She had to go no matter what, she concluded. She would leave for Sapphire City right away. The gravity of the situation cancelled out any awkwardness about going to see Ash out of the blue like this. No matter how crummy she felt, no matter how weird it would be. Seeing Ash on T.V. had motivated her to rise above her sadness, at least for now.

The newly-determined girl climbed out of bed once again and pulled her hair into a messy ponytail. This was the strongest and most motivated she had felt in months. She glanced over at the digital alarm clock on her night stand.

_**9:49 p.m**_., the bright red numbers read.

She could catch an overnight flight, the girl thought. She knew she wouldn't make it for Ash's first battle, which was tomorrow morning, but she figured she would be better off being late than not going at all. The girl wished she would have remembered the tournament before tonight because she could have made it there earlier, but there was nothing she could do.

She squinted in the dark towards her large, walk-in closet across the room. Her suitcase was still packed from last weekend's gym leader conference in Saffron City. She had never felt motivated enough to unpack it when she had returned.

She contemplated for what felt like another hour over what she would do next. She could always close the gym for a few days…say she was going on vacation. There wouldn't be many trainers coming in this week anyway, as everyone would surely be glued to their television sets to watch the world championship.

"_But what will I do or say if and when I see him? Should I hug him? Will he even talk to me? Does he even want me there? He will remember me, won't he?"_

All of those thoughts and more began racing through the teenage girl's head as she prepared to take this giant risk.

"Of course he'll remember you," the girl argued with herself. "You've been through too much for him not to."

Finally, with conviction, the teen stood up and turned her bedroom lights on.

She shielded her eyes, knowing that they wouldn't like the sudden blinding flash. The flood of white light washed away the darkness and revealed the true beauty of her luxurious bedroom.

The walls were painted a deep sea blue-green…the same color as her now-hopeful eyes, with white and baby-blue trim. The girl's queen-sized waterbed looked like an elegant crystal oyster shell with a glittery gold frame and white sheets and covers.

The new light also revealed that the teen's outfit matched her bedroom's watery theme. She wore a snug, white tank top with short, blue denim shorts. Her teal green flip-flop sandals also matched the color of her eyes and her bedroom walls.

Her once fiery red-orange hair had softened with age and now was a beautiful, soft copper color which flowed down just past her shoulders.

The girl gathered her backpack, and took inventory of her money and supplies. Before she zipped her pack back up, she ran out of the room and to the gym's Pokémon Center equipment room. She entered the room, and grabbed the six red and white metal spheres out of the machine, and returned to her room.

For at least a moment, the immense burden of her perpetual sadness seemed lifted by her loyalty to her friend. No matter how scared she felt, she knew she had to do this.

"Come on now, Misty…," she whispered to herself confidently as she took up her pack, turned off her light, and exited the room.

"He needs you."

The girl thought about the statement she'd just said to herself as she made her way down her dimly-lit hallway. She corrected herself sheepishly as she made her way out the front door and into the dark, cold night.

"Or…maybe _you_ need _him."_


	3. Chapter Two: The Two Gifts

_**Ring-Ring-Ring…Ring-Ring-Ring… **_The phone rang on the other end for what seemed like forever.

No answer.

After a few more rings, the boy on the phone heard a click and then a recorded message. A young woman's voice.

"_Umm…like…You have like totally reached the Sensational Sisters at the Cerul--" _

He hung up the phone right away. He couldn't stand that girl's annoying valley-girl tone. Why was her voice still even on the answering machine?

"Guess nobody's home," the boy said to himself, a bit disappointed.

He stood up from the video phone desk in the corner of the Sapphire City Pokémon Center.

The young man stood a few inches short of six feet tall. A huge grey sweatshirt, probably two sizes too big for him, hung loosely from his wiry, yet athletic physique. His hood was up, hiding his face in its shadow. He wore dark sunglasses, which was odd because he was currently indoors.

He turned to see that the small Pokémon Center's lobby was still extremely crowded and loud. The raucous murmur of hundreds of voices all shouting over one another was very uncomfortable. He stared at the vast sea of bodies, not at all excited to navigate it.

The boy pushed his way through the large swarm of newspaper and television reporters and photographers who were all packed into the lobby. They were all jockeying for position around several of the trainers who would be participating in the tournament this week. Most of the competitors were living at this Pokémon Center for the week, but while nearly all of them had retired safely to their rooms for the night, these unfortunate few found themselves caught in the middle of the mob.

No one even noticed the hooded boy as he struggled to weave through the group, as all the media members were too busy pushing and shoving, trying to request interviews and take photos. Even at this time of night--nearly 10:30 p.m. here in Sapphire City--the reporters and photographers were still hard at work. They hounded any and every tournament trainer they saw.

"Don't they ever go to sleep?" the boy thought to himself as he finally made it through the crowd.

He exited the lobby and turned the corner to the hallway where the tournament trainers' guest rooms were located. He was glad to avoid all the reporters and all their incessant prying questions.

After a brisk walk down the carpeted hallway, passing many identical brown doors on the way, the boy finally reached his room. He turned the cold brass knob and walked inside to a warm greeting from his best friend.

"Pikapi!"

A small yellow rodent cried happily from the neatly made twin-size bed in the middle of the guest room. The pokémon bounded across to the foot of the bed to greet him.

The hooded boy lowered his shroud and yanked off the sunglasses, revealing his excited brown eyes and shaggy jet-black hair. He discarded the dingy-looking sweatshirt and placed his favorite old, tattered baseball cap on his head.

The bright-eyed trainer looked down at his pokémon and smiled. Both trainer and pokémon were clearly excited.

He wore navy-blue denim jeans, a black t-shirt and black sneakers. His messy hair stuck out from underneath his red and white hat, just like it had for many years.

"Hey Pikachu! You ready for tomorrow morning?" the boy asked as he plunked down on the bed next to his pokémon.

"Pi-Kah!"

Pikachu stood up on his hind legs and pumped his tiny yellow fists in the air excitedly. This made the trainer giggle. The boy smiled at his friend and petted his furry head.

He couldn't believe they were actually here. All of their hopes and dreams, all of their hard work and determination…the countless adventures and journeys over the years…it had all finally led them here! They were going to battle in the greatest and biggest tournament in the entire world! Tomorrow would be the most memorable day of both their lives.

"Can…can you believe we finally made it here, Pikachu?" He was almost whispering for fear that it might only be a dream.

"Pi-kachu, Pikapi!" Pikachu replied, solemnly looking his trainer in the eyes, as if to say, _"We've certainly been through a lot together to get to this point."_

The boy let out a deep sigh, as he laid back on the bed with his arms resting behind his head. Somehow, perhaps through years of close friendship, the boy always seemed to know what Pikachu was trying to say to him.

"Yeah, it seems like it was just yesterday when we left home for the first time together," the boy said to his friend. "That's when it all started. We survived the attack from all those Spearow. We ended up in the river but we were rescued by…"

The boy stopped mid-sentence and just stared blankly as he laid there, never finishing his sentence.

"Pikachupi."

The small electric mouse matter-of-factly finished his trainer's sentence, not noticing him staring sadly at the ceiling. Pikachu then looked over and realized that his trainer had zoned out and was obviously bothered by something.

"Yup…Misty," the boy finally said, although it was clear he was still deep in thought.

"Pikapi?" it asked with a concerned look on its face, as it bounded closer to the boy.

"Nah, nothing's wrong, buddy," the boy said without looking away from the ceiling. He paused before continuing.

"It's just that…this is it, ya know? This is the moment we've been traveling and training all these years for. I always imagined this day would come, but I just can't believe it's happening…here…now. Just think about all the world famous trainers that are here."

"Pi-kachu!"

The pokémon smiled and wagged its furry jagged-shaped tail, knowing that the two of them were there too, and both were determined to show the entire world what they were capable of. Pikachu's black, beady eyes were fiercely intense with excitement. But his fired-up expression faded as it noticed the boy still looked sad.

"…And I know you and _I_ are together." The teen smiled weakly at Pikachu. "…and that's the important thing, but I kinda wish _**everyone**_ was here to share this moment with us, ya know?"

Pikachu looked puzzled.

The boy could see that Pikachu was trying to understand, but needed a little more help, so he continued on.

"I mean, we've been traveling a real long time, and now that we've finally made it here…I wish everyone that's helped us along the way to get here was here too. You understand?"

Again, the pokémon just stared back at him blankly. Wasn't everyone here?

The boy sighed. He then smiled and said, "Don't worry about it, buddy. I'll be fine."

For the next ten or fifteen minutes, the two companions remained silent as they lay on the bed, just staring at the freshly painted ceiling and reflecting.

The boy should have been absolutely giddy. He was only a day away from realizing his ultimate dream of participating in the greatest tournament in the world. But for whatever reason, he wasn't feeling so excited at the moment. And he felt even sadder as he remembered hearing the girl on the answering machine a few minutes ago out in the lobby.

"_**KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!!!"**_

The boy didn't have long to feel sorry for himself. The three sudden loud knocks on the door instantly interrupted his train of thought. Pikachu was startled as well; he yelped and jumped at the loud noise, and the boy actually fell off the bed and crashed onto the hard floor with a comedic thud.

"Ouch! Uh…come in," the boy grumbled to the visitor outside, still on the floor in pain.

Who would be knocking on his door at this time of night? They didn't allow reporters past the lobby to where the guest rooms were.

"Hey, Ash. Hi, Pikachu. You guys excited for tomorrow?"

A beautiful teenage girl--probably around the same age as the boy--with soft, shiny, dark-blue hair and matching sapphire-like eyes smiled cheerfully as she opened the door. She was obviously excited for tomorrow as well.

"Hey, Dawn. Good to see you." the boy, Ash, said as he brushed a lock of black hair from his face.

"Haha, good to see me? How long has it been since you last saw me? Like three days?" The girl asked in a sarcastic tone with a smile. "You make it sound like you never see me."

Ash realized that she was right. He had just seen Dawn before he had left for Sapphire City a few days ago, and had been traveling around with her for years now. They were the best of friends and had been so for a long time. Still, he thought to himself, it was nice to see her again either way.

"Um...Why are you on the floor, Ash?" the girl finally asked, not looking at all shocked.

He was embarrassed when he realized that he was still sprawled out on the floor. Any sadness he had been feeling subsided when he saw the girl's face. Still, he didn't really want to talk with Dawn about what was bothering him right now…or why he had fallen off of the bed, so he changed the subject.

"So…how was your flight? Did you meet up with my mom and the others?"

"Nope, but we're all staying in the same hotel though. It's crazy how expensive rooms are out here," she replied. "We only just got here a few hours ago. My mom's back at the hotel waiting for the others to get here. But I wanted to come over and see you."

"Oh," Ash said, not knowing exactly how to respond to the kind comment. "Cool."

Dawn just rolled her eyes at the boy's density which she was all too used to.

"That's all you have to say?"

"What? What did I do?"

"Ash, you're so thick sometimes," she sighed. "I come all the way out here to watch you in the tournament, and all you have to say is, 'Oh, cool?'"

"Well no one asked you to come," Ash retorted. He instantly winced when he heard the words escape his lips.

He knew he shouldn't have said that. He didn't mean that at all. It was just that he had always been a bit clumsy when it came to being sensitive. And he and Dawn had gotten into countless arguments over the years, so making defensive comments like that had become somewhat of a habit for him. No one had ever taught him how to talk to girls.

"Oh, well fine then! Jeez, I'm sure glad I walked all the way across town to see you, Jerk! I'll just go back to the hotel then!" Dawn growled angrily, starting to turn to walk back out the door. "Have a good night, Mr. Pokémon Master!"

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry. Don't go, Dawn." The boy pleaded.

Ash jumped to his feet and ran over to the girl. He grabbed her with both arms around her waist and pulled her back away from the door. Dawn pretended to struggle free from the his grasp, but she couldn't help but start giggling once he began tickling her side and stomach. Both teens laughed, and Dawn finally broke free and started playfully punching Ash.

"Pi-kachu!" The pokémon grinned as he watched the two humans.

"I really am glad you came, Dawn." Ash heard himself say. He cringed again because it definitely didn't feel natural to say something like that to her. He nervously tried to changed the subject.

"I still can't believe I'm here…I mean, out of all the Pokémon trainers in the world…to be one of the sixty-four that get to battle here?"

The boy flashed his trademark smile at his friend. He noticed the glimmering sparkle in her bright blue eyes, but he didn't know why. He was suddenly very glad Dawn was standing here in his room with him.

"Ash, from the first day I met you, I knew you were capable of doing anything you set your mind to," Dawn said. "We've been through a whole lot together over the past few years, and I've seen you do some pretty amazing things during our travels. I know you'll be awesome this week. And most importantly, Ash…despite what anybody says…you belong here." She whispered the last sentence.

The two teenagers shared another smile.

Ash didn't know how he was going to do in this tourney against the best trainers in the world. But Dawn was right about one thing. The two of them had been extremely close ever since she had accompanied Ash and Brock on their journeys through the Sinnoh Region almost half-a-decade ago. The two had split temporarily after their Sinnoh adventures a few years ago and went their separate ways for a few months.

But Ash and Dawn quickly realized that they didn't want to be apart for very long. So eventually, the two friends reunited and continued traveling together. They had definitely been through a lot, like she had said. Ever since the day they had met, which now felt like an eternity ago, Dawn had been by his side through thick and thin.

All the battles and gym leaders. All the pokémon contests. All the fun times and tough ones, too. Together they had met many new friends--humans and pokémon alike--during their journeys. Ash and Dawn had even witnessed some pretty incredible, unworldly events involving some legendary pokémon over the years. Together the two teens had experienced a lifetime's worth of adventure, that's for sure.

Most recently, the duo had traveled together through the chilly Tundrus Region, as recently as a few months ago, splitting time between Ash's gym battles and Dawn's participation in the Tundrus Winter Cup Contests, before they both briefly returned home when Ash had qualified with his fiftieth career badge about midway through the region.

She then accompanied him to the regional qualifying tournament in his native Kanto, where trainers who had earned fifty badges could compete for a chance to go to Sapphire City for the World Championship.

And here they were today. Together still, on the day when Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town finally had his chance to become the world's greatest Pokémon Master, his ultimate goal from the day he had first learned about pokémon and battles.

"Thanks, Dawn," Ash said, trying to hide the blushing he could feel in his cheeks. "I'm really glad you're here with me."

"Yeah…you said that already, Silly."

He instantly felt embarrassed at how nervous he was suddenly feeling, but It was definitely the truth. He was glad she was here. While Ash hoped to accomplish his lifelong dream this week, he felt like just being invited to such an elite event was a huge honor in itself and he liked having his friends around to share it with.

He also had begun to notice Dawn in a different light recently. He hated to even admit it to himself, and never dared admitting it to anyone else, but Dawn was no longer the naive, scrawny little girl she was when he had first met her.

Now, at almost fifteen years old, she was starting to resemble the glamorous and stunningly gorgeous Pokémon Coordinators she had always watched on television and idolized for their style and beauty.

Her soft, dark hair streamed beautifully down her shoulders, loosely tied on either side with those familiar golden hair ties. Without her childish white stocking cap she had often worn when she'd first met Ash, the rich violet highlights in her hair were free to shimmer in the light like a movie star's.

She wore a stylish black button-up shirt, which elegantly showed off her developing figure. And her chic pink corduroy miniskirt and matching pink flats accentuated her long and slender, smooth legs.

But above all her emerging beauty, Ash appreciated Dawn's kindness, compassion for life, and friendship. He had grown to trust her and rely on her over the years. She was always there for him when he needed a friend.

"Ash?" Dawn waved her hand in front of his face, interrupting Ash's daydreaming. "You alright?"

"Oh! Uh…yeah. I'm alright. Just a little nervous I guess." He blinked, realizing Dawn had been trying to talk to him when he had zoned out.

"That's normal, Ash. Just remember what I always say…" She placed a friendly hand on Ash's shoulder. "No need to worry."

With that, Dawn gave Ash a big hug, needing to stand up on her tippy-toes in order to do so.

"I know. I know," he said as he clumsily returned the hug.

It annoyed Ash anytime he caught himself noticing Dawn…in that way. Despite the fact that he was growing up, he couldn't imagine himself being in love with a girl...any girl. Dawn was his friend, it'd been that way for a long time now, and it was too weird to think about her like that.

Besides, Ash had bigger things to worry about besides girls at the moment: namely the biggest pokémon battle of his life, which was only hours away now!

Ash quickly separated himself from Dawn before the length of the hug became too uncomfortable or suspicious.

"Alright," he said. "Enough mushy stuff, I gotta drop off my pokémon at Nurse Joy's office before I go to bed. I haven't had a chance to heal them since I got here."

He picked up his black backpack which was sitting on the bed, and stood up as he unzipped it. Inside were five metallic spheres, each about the diameter of a coin. Half of each sphere was red, the other half was white. They made a click-clacking sound as they rustled around and against each other when Ash picked up his backpack.

"Alright Ash, I'll let you get ready for bed, but before I go back to the hotel…I was wondering if I could give you something," Dawn asked in a timid yet hopeful tone.

Ash was surprised to hear that Dawn had gotten him a gift. She had been especially nice to him recently, he realized. She was always smiling at him and complementing him. Now she was buying him gifts?

He didn't really know what he felt about this. He definitely noticed Dawn's increased attention recently, and a part of him really liked having such a pretty girl always by his side. But another part of him was scared about where such a relationship would lead. He really didn't know anything about that kind of stuff, so he just ignored those feelings and enjoyed his friend's company.

"Uh…sure," Ash said as Pikachu scampered closer so it could see what Dawn had gotten the boy.

Dawn pulled her small, white backpack off of her back. She laid it on the bed. She unzipped it and removed a wrapped package, maybe the size of a small shoe-box, from the bag.

"Here, Ash. I hope you like it." Dawn smiled nervously. "I didn't really know what you would like."

Ash grabbed the beautifully wrapped box and just stared at it. The wrapping was a beautiful, shiny gold paper with bunches of silver ribbons tied around it. It really was gorgeous, and it was obvious that Dawn had spent a lot of time on the wrapping.

"Wow! Thanks, Dawn!"

Ash gently slid his fingers underneath the clear tape and carefully attempted to unwrap the package without destroying the beautiful paper Dawn had used. He wanted nothing more than to just tear into the package to see what was inside, but after his ill-mannered comment before, he wanted to make sure he didn't make her mad. So he continued to cautiously peel away at the taped corners of the wrapping paper.

"Ash! Just open it," the girl said impatiently.

Ash was relieved that Dawn understood how impatient he was. She always understood, he thought to himself.

As soon as she gave him the okay, he ripped into the present like an excited child on Christmas. Shreds of gold paper, tape, and ribbon flew in the air as he eagerly tore his way through it. Finally, he saw what Dawn had given to him.

Inside the cardboard box underneath all the trimmings, was a brand-new navy blue and white baseball cap. It was a really cool hat, Ash thought. Much better than his old, dingy and dirty hat he had been wearing for years now. Plus, it was from his friend, so that made it extra special.

"You hate it don't you?" Dawn looked worried when she saw Ash just staring at the hat in the box.

"You don't have to wear it, I just thought--"

"I love it! Thank you Dawn." Ash cut her off and smiled genuinely at her.

He replaced his old cap with the new one and tossed the old one into the corner of the room near his backpack. Dawn looked incredibly relieved that Ash liked her gift.

"That symbol on the front means 'friendship,'" she bashfully explained to Ash, pointing to the black character stitched on the front of the hat. "I thought it might help you tomorrow…if you're feeling scared or nervous out there in front of all those people. Just remember that I'm always right there with you, even if I can't actually be. Ya know?"

She smiled again at Ash. They were standing face-to-face right next to each other. Neither of them spoke for a few moments. Ash started to become very nervous as he sensed the awkwardness of the moment…and then without warning, a horrifying thing happened.

Ash's eyes grew wide as he watched Dawn lean over kiss him gently on the cheek.

His face began to tingle at the instant her lips touched his skin.

"Good luck tomorrow, Ash," he heard her whisper in his ear. Her cheeks were bright red.

After the quick peck, Dawn suddenly turned around and ran for the door in a panic without another word. She had a look of utter horror as she raced out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

Ash--whose face was also a distinct shade of crimson--and Pikachu were still standing where they had been when Dawn had kissed him.

The duo continued to stare at the door where she had exited. They both looked dumbfounded. Neither of them said a word or moved for nearly five minutes.

"What just happened, Pikachu?" the boy finally asked, obviously puzzled.

"Pi-kaaah…" His beloved electric mouse was equally as shocked.

The boy's mind was absolutely spinning after what had just occurred. Did Dawn, his best friend in the world, the girl whom he had grown up with together as nothing more than friends, really just kiss him?

The whole situation Ash now found himself in was surreal to say the least. He found himself here, finally, the place where his longest childhood dream would be realized: the biggest competition in the world. That fact in itself was enough to cause the boy to think that this was all just a dream.

Now a kiss from Dawn? This was beyond crazy. This was--

_**KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!**_

Another knock at the door! Dawn was back!

Ash froze. He didn't know what to do. The idea of seeing Dawn again so soon after that incredibly awkward moment scared him more than anything he had ever experienced in his life before. Why had she come back so soon? Did she want to kiss more?!

He ran towards the bathroom in the back of the room.

"You answer the door, Pikachu," he called out behind him. "I'll be in here."

"Pi?" Pikachu just stared back at Ash, looking puzzled.

Ash waited in the small, white-tiled bathroom for a few minutes, not exactly knowing why he was doing so. He sat on the edge of the bathtub and just stared at the floor, trying to focus on his battle tomorrow. Only the biggest battle of his entire life.

Suddenly a scratching sound at the bathroom door.

Ash timidly opened it, desperately hoping to see anyone but Dawn. He breathed a deep sigh of relief when he saw no one until he looked down to see Pikachu standing in front of him.

"Hey Pikachu," he said. "Who was at the door?"

"Pi-Kachu."

"Oh. Right," Ash said. "Sorry, buddy."

He was rather embarrassed. Of course his little Pikachu wouldn't be able to open a human door. He chuckled. Dawn was right, he _**was**_ really thick sometimes.

Ash figured that Dawn, or whoever had knocked was gone by now, but he walked over and looked anyway. He opened the door, again hoping to see no one, and again he was relieved. No one there. Just the empty, carpeted hallway.

But wait. Before Ash could swing the door closed, something on the ground in the hallway right near his feet caught his eye.

"Hey, what's this?" Ash said out loud as he bent down to pick the object up.

It was a very small black box, like a jewelry box, sitting on the floor right near his feet. The black box had a tiny bow taped to the top of it as well. But there was no card, no name on the box.

"Pika?"

"Another present?"

Ash shut the front door and plopped back down on the bed.

"Who do ya think sent this one, Pikachu?"

"Pi-Pikachu!"

"You're right. Only one way to find out."

Ash tore the bow off and flipped open the hinged box.

"Whoa," he gasped.

By the look of the box, Ash had almost expected to see a wedding ring or a pair of pearl earrings inside. But it was neither of those things. It wasn't jewelry at all. It was some sort of gold coin. The palm-sized piece of shiny metal twinkled beautifully in the light from the room.

Ash marveled at the dazzling coin. There were five shimmering gemstones imbedded in its smooth surface. Four of the jewels orbited the fifth like the pattern of the 'five' side of a die.

Each tiny stone was a different color, Ash noticed. The four jewels were blue, red, yellow and black, and they all surrounded a gorgeous diamond in the middle. Quite a peculiar pattern, he thought to himself. And a very mysterious gift indeed.

"Sure is pretty, isn't it?" Ash asked as he carefully removed the coin from the box so he could examine it further. As he did so, a small piece of folded paper, which had been tucked underneath the coin, fell from the box.

Pikachu scurried over and snatched the shred of paper out of the air before it reached the floor.

"Pikapi."

"What's it say, buddy?" Ash asked, taking it from his pokémon. He unfolded it and read.

* * *

"_Ash -_

_The time has come for this to be returned to you. _

_Take good care of it, and it shall aid you during _

_the daunting task that awaits you. _

_Good luck."_

_

* * *

  
_

The boy read and re-read the peculiar words that were scribbled on the paper. His mind again began to race.

Ash wondered what the note meant. It was time for the coin to be returned to him? He had never seen it before in his life. And what sort of daunting task awaited him?

He simply shrugged and returned the coin to its box. All this excitement was tiring. He wanted to find out who had left him this strange coin, but after the incident with Dawn and because he would have his first tournament battle in the morning, Ash just wanted to get some sleep.

He placed the box on the nightstand next to the bed before changing into his pajamas. He set the hat Dawn had given him next to the tiny black box as he yawned deeply and stretched his arms towards the ceiling.

"We'll figure it out tomorrow," Ash said. "We should really get some rest."

Pikachu too yawned and nodded its little head in agreement.

The two friends both climbed into the twin bed and positioned themselves underneath the warm covers. Ash gently scratched Pikachu's head one last time before reaching over to switch off the lamp that was sitting on the nightstand next to his two gifts.

The cozy guest room went dark. Trainer and pokémon were left staring at the ceiling once again.

"What a crazy day," Ash's voice trailed off as he drifted off into a deep sleep.


	4. Chapter Three: Self Confidence

**CHAPTER THREE: SELF - CONFIDENCE

* * *

  
**

**

* * *

**

The deafening roar all around him stung his eardrums. The concrete beneath his feet shook like during an earthquake. The chaos that surrounded him was reaching critical mass, but the young boy seated in Section 203, Row 4, Seat 14, was loving every minute of it.

The teal-haired twelve-year-old took a break from munching on his bag of popcorn. He adjusted the wire-rim glasses that were slipping down his nose and turned his head to gaze at just how packed the stadium was around him. There had to be at least fifty or sixty thousand screaming fans in attendance. The venue looked so breath-taking, so much larger than life from where he sat, like huge tidal waves of seats swallowing him up from above.

The preteen had never seen anything like it. He was so grateful to his friend and mentor, Ash Ketchum for inviting him here to Sapphire City to witness this. And these seats were amazing! Fourth row, right near midfield. Being here live, so close to the action, was definitely different than simply watching the Pokémon World Championship Tournament on television, which he had done four years ago when Lance was crowned champion.

The midmorning sun was shining down on the beautiful open-air stadium. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Flocks of pidgey and wingull could be seen soaring high overhead against the pure blue background.

Thousands of flashbulbs constantly exploded from every corner of the gigantic arena. The majestic scene along with the sheer pandemonium inside the building were enough to give the boy goose bumps. This was awesome.

The bells and whistles of the tournament's opening ceremonies had proceeded earlier that morning, as had many of the first day's early battles. Now finally, it was just minutes before Ash's very first match of the competition.

"Wow! Look at all these people here! Drew would love this!" a brown-haired teenage girl next to him squealed as she reached over and helped herself to some of her brother's popcorn.

"Yeah, too bad he couldn't come…" the boy muttered, not paying much attention to his older sister. He was so enamored with the match that he wasn't really listening to her.

"Max, whadduya think is taking the others so long? How long does it take to order a soda? It's going to start any minute," she said, looking at the four empty seats to their right.

"What? Oh, I wouldn't worry, May," the boy, Max, assured her, although his eyes were still glued to the field. "I'm sure the lines at the concession stands are long."

The young boy was still busy staring down at the battle field, thinking hard about the magnitude of the tournament for his good friend, and what he must be feeling right now. Max felt proud to have traveled with Ash back when he was a little kid. He had learned so many things about being a trainer from his mentor, even though he wasn't even old enough to have a pokémon back when they had journeyed together.

But ever since Max had turned ten years old and finally got to select his very first pokémon from Professor Birch back in Petalburg City, he had been training hard. He traveled his native Hoenn Region in search of new friends and in pursuit of every gym badge, just as he had learned from Ash.

But while Max was finally embarking on his own journey, this entire week would be time for reflection. It was a time to reminisce about the good old days: when he and his sister first met Ash and got to travel around with him on his quest. And now, years later as his old friend was participating in the most climactic event of his training-life, the group would be together again.

"How much longer til game time?" May impatiently whined and tugged on the his arm.

"Just a few more minutes," he mumbled.

"Hey! We're back!" a voice shouted happily from May's right.

Max turned to see that the occupants of the four empty seats next to him and May had returned.

"Just in time guys," he said to the foursome as they shuffled their way down the aisle and took their seats.

"Well we would have gotten back sooner if Brock hadn't stopped to flirt with that girl at the concession stand," Dawn said as she glared at the nineteen-year-old seated next to her.

"Too bad she had a boyfriend," the brown haired young man sighed sadly and he slumped in his chair next to Dawn.

"Yeah, and he didn't seem too happy that you were trying to put the moves on his girlfriend," Dawn chuckled as she took a sip from her soda.

Max laughed to himself as he turned back to face the field. Some things never changed. Brock never had any luck with girls.

"Oh my! This is so exciting," said the woman on the other side of Brock. "I can't believe so many people are here to watch my baby! Oh, I hope he isn't too nervous!" The woman, who looked to be in her mid-thirties, was the only one of the group of six who was still standing. She was nervously playing with her chestnut-colored ponytail with one hand and was biting the fingernails on her other.

"Delia, why don't you have a seat? Here, have some lemonade," Dawn's mother, Johanna, who sat next to her, suggested. "I'm sure Ash is fine. He's been through his fair share of pokémon battles."

The navy-haired woman took Delia Ketchum's hand and coaxed her into taking her seat.

"Well the book here says that all first-round matches are three-on-three battles," Brock said as he skimmed the tourney's official rulebook he had purchased. "Which three pokémon do you think Ash will use?"

"Hmmm, good question."

"Dawn would be the one to ask," her mother said. "She went to visit with him at the Pokémon Center last night after we flew in."

"Did Ash say anything about which pokémon he was going with today?" Max asked eagerly. He and the others all turned their attention to the fourteen-year-old girl who was the only one of the group to actually see Ash since they all had arrived in Sapphire City.

"Oh… uh… no. We didn't… we didn't talk about that last night," Dawn replied sheepishly, looking uncomfortable as she started to blush.

"Well, he'd better have something up his sleeve. Ethan Hart is an awesome trainer," Max said, ignoring the girl's odd behavior in response to his question about Ash.

"That's who he faces first?" May asked with an obvious look of concern on her face.

"Yup," Max answered simply. Despite his friendship with Ash, the eleven-year-old didn't sound too hopeful.

Ethan Hart from New Bark Town was simply one of the best trainers in the world. The nineteen-year-old was the reigning Johto League champion, a remarkable feat for someone his age especially. Known for his flashy battling style and boyish good looks, Hart had reached definite teen idol status with fans. Following his amazing run to the championship, the emerging superstar was offered dozens of lucrative endorsement deals. He was always on television, much to the delight of many teenage girls around the world. And he wasn't all hype either… the man was one of the best battlers alive.

"Yeah, I've seen Ethan on T.V. quite a bit," Brock said somberly. "His pokémon are really strong."

"Yeah, but if we know Ash, his pokémon will be too!" May replied with optimism and loyalty to her friend.

And with that everyone cheered and focused their attention down to the field as the two trainers were about to be introduced…

* * *

"Professor? Are they ready to be sent over?"

"_Yes, they are. All three of them seem very excited to see you!" _

"I'm excited to see them too! It's been a while."

"_I figured you might use these three in battle today and I was right! Especially since it's your first battle of the tournament. It's only fitting."_

"Yup. Exactly what I was thinking, Professor. I decided late last night, I've come a long way, that's for sure… and they've been there with me from the very start. It's only fitting to start off with them this week, like you say."

"_All right, I'll send your pokémon over right now."_

"Thanks, Professor!"

"_No problem, my boy. Oh… and Ash. One more thing."_

"Yea?"

"_Whatever happens out there, Ash… I just want you to know that I'm very proud of you. And so is your mom, your friends, and all of Pallet Town! You should see the town, my boy! You are all anyone is talking about!"_

"Th-thanks Professor Oak," the boy said, touched by the kind words of his long-time teacher who was staring back at him over the video phone. Ash looked down at the ground, trying not to tear up in front of him.

"_You have come so far, Ash," _the old man continued, a twinkle in his eyes. _"I remember when you first left my laboratory when you were ten. You didn't even know how to catch a pokémon. Now look at you… Competing for the world championship. Truly amazing. Just remember to go out there and just have fun! Everything else will take care of itself. I'll send your pokémon right over."_

And with that, the video phone switched off and Professor Oak's face disappeared from the screen. Ash just sat there for a few minutes trying to collect his emotions. His head was spinning and he began to feel nauseous when he thought about what was about to transpire in only a few minutes.

The boy reached his sweaty hand into his jeans pocket and fished something out: the mysterious gold coin and the tiny slip of paper that had been left outside his door last night. He unfolded the paper and once again recited the words scribbled on it.

* * *

"_Ash-_

_The time has come for this to be returned to you. _

_Take good care of it, and it shall aid you during_

_the daunting task that awaits you. _

_Good luck." _

* * *

Ash returned the paper to his pocket, but kept the coin out. He felt its cool and smooth metal surface in his hand. It shall aid him during the daunting task that awaits? How much more daunting could things get? He was just moments from walking out onto the field in front of millions of fans to face one of the best trainers on the planet. Yup, daunting was a good word for this.

So what was this little coin supposed to do? It's golden surface and the five gemstones imbedded in it sure looked beautiful, but how was that going to help him win? Maybe the note just meant it was supposed to be a good luck charm.

Finally, Ash stood up and returned the coin to his pocket. He walked from the video phone, which was located at one corner of the Sapphire Stadium Pokémon Center's lobby, to the Computerized Transfer System at the other side of the room. He sometimes wondered what kind of genius ever invented all of these high-tech machines but told himself that now wasn't the time to let his mind wander.

His furry yellow friend bounded excitedly along behind him, his jagged tail wagging in the air. Ash swiped his trainer ID card through the machine and pushed a button on the computer and instantly it started making noises and flashing its lights.

In a few seconds three separate beams of white light appeared and eventually condensed into three red and white Poke-balls. Ash picked up the shiny, smooth spheres that Professor Oak had just sent over from Pallet Town. He held all three of the ping-pong-sized orbs in his hand, knowing that the moment of truth was almost upon him.

These were the three pokémon that he would begin with.

"Pi?" _(Who's in there?)_

"You'll see."

"Mr. Ketchum?" A male tournament official wearing a dark blue suit and holding a clipboard tapped Ash on the shoulder as he was logging off of the pokémon transfer machine.

"Huh?" Ash and Pikachu looked over.

"Sorry to interrupt, but it's almost time. I'm supposed to get you checked in before you go out there."

The official motioned towards the long metal tunnel which led from the Pokémon Center's lobby to the field level of the stadium.

"Have you selected your three pokémon, Mr. Ketchum?"

Ash nervously handed the official the three shiny Poke-balls he had just received. He tried hard not to let his hands shake too much during the exchange. He was embarrassed by the butterfrees he felt in his stomach at the moment.

"Yup. Here ya go," Ash muttered. "I'm going with those three. Pikachu here will tag along with me if that's okay."

"Pi-Pikachu!" the yellow mouse chimed and happily greeted the man.

"Very good, Mr. Ketchum. I'll get these three registered quickly, and you can make your way down to the field. It's almost time to start. Good luck."

"… _Time to start." _The man's words rang loudly in Ash's ears and echoed over and over.

He reached into his pocket again and felt his new good luck charm. Surprisingly, touching the smooth hard surface of the coin calmed Ash as he thought about battle strategy. In fact, it did more than that.

Still clutching the coin in his pocket, the boy suddenly felt a distinct feeling of confidence sweep through his body like a warm summer breeze. It was an incredibly invigorating feeling, like he knew that he was ready for this. Any nervousness he had been feeling instantly evaporated. Ash thought about his life as a trainer and how many battles he had won over the years. Gym leaders, frontier brains, legendary pokémon… he had battled them all before, and held his own each time. This tournament would be no different. He could do this. A slight smirk crept onto the boy's stern face.

"Thank you, Mr. Ketchum. Here are your pokémon back. You can go on ahead… they are ready for you on the field."

The tournament official returned Ash's three poke-balls after he had registered them, but the trainer barely acknowledged him. All he could do was stare at the open entry-way to the tunnel about ten feet in front of him.

The waiting was over. The endless pre-tournament press conferences and interviews were over. The years of training and countless hours spent strategizing for this tournament were over. The fantasizing and dreaming about this day was over. It was finally time!

Ash was ready. With one last deep breath, he began walking down the tunnel from the lobby to the battlefield with Pikachu scampering behind.

"Let's go win this!"

"Pi-Kah!"

The boy and his diminutive best friend marched confidently through the long, connecting tunnel and slowly into the view of literally millions of people, counting the viewers on television. Walking from the dark tunnel into the blinding light of the stadium was a very surreal moment for Ash and Pikachu.

"_And now… all the way from the quaint little town of Pallet… In his first ever appearance at the Champions League… The youngest trainer in this tournament's illustrious history…. ASH KETCHUM!" _

The feeling Ash got when he heard his name called over the stadium's public address system was indescribable. He shivered and felt the huge goose bumps rise up on his skin, especially his forearms and the back of his neck. But these weren't nervous emotions. He had never felt so pumped up in his life. The adrenaline rush he was feeling was a high unlike anything he had ever felt.

The first thing he and Pikachu noticed when they exited the tunnel was how many people were packed into the gigantic stadium. It was easily the biggest crowd they had ever battled in front of.

The flashing lights of the cameras were blinding from above, and the roar of the crowd and the bass of the up-beat background music blasting from the stadium speakers were deafening. The ground beneath Ash was shaking underneath his sneakers.

"Haha, this is awesome!" Ash laughed as he soaked the moment in.

"Pikaaa…" Pikachu, too, was in awe of how big this tournament was.

Ash was so excited by now that he was almost sprinting to his position at the east-end of the battlefield.

The announcer had paused after reading Ash's name to allow for the polite smattering of cheers he received, but then continued.

"_Opposing Ketchum in this first round match…from the town of New Bark… one of the top young trainers in the world… The reigning Johto League Champion… the one, the only… ETHAN HART!"_

However loud the crowd may have gotten when Ash's name was announced, it was one hundred times louder when the Johto Champ was introduced. After all, Ash Ketchum was just some kid who many people felt was lucky to even be there; Ethan was a bona fide superstar. The flashbulbs exploded at a ridiculous rate and the crowd was in a frenzy.

The boy didn't mind the crowd's bias however. He fully embraced the underdog role. He watched as a tall, athletic-looking young man sauntered out of the other tunnel on the opposite side of the field.

The man's shaggy dark hair peaked out from underneath his black and yellow backwards-turned baseball cap. Despite the momentous occasion Jimmy wasn't dressed up at all. He wore only his usual red half-zip sweatshirt and tan hiking shorts.

"Wow… There he is, Pikachu. _The_ Ethan Hart," Ash said as he stared across the field at his famous opponent. He didn't sound overly impressed. In fact, his tone of voice had a slight hint of sarcasm.

Ash had never really met Ethan before, but he'd seen plenty of him on television. He knew he was a very gifted competitor, and even keeping the match close would be a chore. But for whatever reason, Ash felt really good about the match despite how tough his opponent would surely be.

The two competitors walked from their respective tunnels and met at the middle of the concrete field and shook hands. Ethan was a few inches taller than Ash, who had to look up slightly to look him in the eye.

"Good to finally meet you, Ash," Ethan said warmly.

"You too, Mr. Hart," Ash replied with a polite smile. "It's an honor to be able to battle you."

"Please, call me, 'Jimmy,' Ash," the nineteen year old trainer said. "You know, I've seen you battle a few times. You're a very strong trainer. This should be a great match!"

Ash patted Ethan on the back and returned to his spot at the east end of the field. He normally would have been absolutely giddy over the fact that a celebrity trainer like Ethan actually knew him and was giving him a complement, but again, the boy strangely felt neither intimidated nor apprehensive about the match anymore. He just couldn't wait to begin.

"_And now! The moment we've all been waiting for…" _

The crowd again erupted. The referee, dressed in an all black uniform for the match, took up the microphone in the center of the field and waited for the noise to die down a bit before he began to speak.

"_This Group E, first round match between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town in the red corner and James Gold from New Bark Town in the blue corner, will now commence!… As the rules state, this will be a one-on-one battle with each trainer being allowed three pokémon. Either trainer may substitute at any time. The first trainer to eliminate all three of his opponent's pokémon will be declared the winner!_

"… _Trainers, ready?… LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!" _The ref signaled the beginning of the match with a whip of his arm. The bell dinged and they began.

"Okay, let's go, Nidoking!" Ash heard Ethan yell from across the field.

The Johto champion tossed out his first Poke-ball, which landed and bounced close to midfield before bursting open and releasing a brilliant flash of white light. From the light, a hulking drill-pokémon materialized. The beast stood tall on its powerful hind legs. It roared loudly and had an intense look on its menacing purple face.

Ash calmly reached to his belt and unclasped one of the three small spheres hanging at the his waist. He pressed the small button on the ball's metallic surface and the sphere instantly grew in his gloved hand to about the size of a baseball. Before he threw the ball, he looked down at it and smiled.

"For old time's sake…" he said to the ball.

The boy grunted as he threw the ball--one of the three he had just received from Professor Oak only minutes ago--into the air with all his might.

The orb snapped open and a small, indigo blue-skinned pokémon wearing a clay-colored shell was released with a bright flash of light. It stood on two legs, looking extremely determined. It turned back to look at its longtime trainer and friend. A huge smile was on its blue face, a twinkle in its big red eyes.

"Squirt-le, squirt!"

"Good to see you, Squirtle! It's been a long time. Thanks for coming back to help me out again." Ash smiled brightly before regaining his focus.

"Squirt-ooole!" The pokémon assumed its 'ready' position and its wide smile was now a stern game-face.

"_It looks like it will be Hart's nidoking versus Ketchum's squirtle!" _the stadium announcer bellowed.

_______________

"Squirtle?" Dawn asked in a puzzled tone from her seat. "I thought Ash said that he released his squirtle long ago so it could be a fire-fighter or something."

The teen girl reached for her pokédex out of her backpack and pointed it towards the battlefield.

"_Squirtle… The tiny turtle Pokémon…" _Dawn's device said in its distinct female voice pattern. _"... It's shell, which is soft during its infancy, hardens as it ages and gains experience. In battle, it is able to shelter itself from attacks by retreating into its shell before striking back with powerful jets of water."_

"Well, Squirtle and Ash have been friends since he was ten years old. It was one of the first pokémon he ever caught," Brock explained knowingly to Dawn. "I'm sure it wanted to be here for Ash when he competed in the biggest tournament of his life."

But Dawn had stopped listening to Brock.

The fourteen-year-old was thinking about her friend down there on that field and how it must feel to be at such a milestone moment of a lifelong journey. She had been with Ash for so long, and competing in this tournament had been his dream ever since the day they had met. She desperately wanted Ash to win.

* * *

Ethan started the action right away. He pointed directly at Ash from across the field, signaling to his nidoking to attack.

"A squirtle? This should be easy," he commented with a smirk. "Nidoking! Let's start with a Horn Drill!"

Upon command, the massive horned-pokémon began to charge towards Squirtle with increasing speed. It's powerful legs propelled the pokémon like a battering ram towards its target with its razor-sharp horn sticking straight out.

"Quick, Squirtle! Dodge it and counter it with a Skull Bash!" Ash yelled. He could already sense an opportunity to strike.

He watched as his pokémon leaped high up into the air, just barely in time to avoid Nidoking's devastating horn attack. And just as Ash had thought, the lumbering pokémon's momentum was hard to stop once it had missed hitting Squirtle.

The bulky beast slid as it struggled to stop in its tracks after its Horn Drill attack had failed. And while its back was turned, Ash's more agile squirtle shot itself towards Nidoking and connected with a solid head butt right to the chin.

The purple poison-type was stunned both by missing on its attack, and then by being hit by Squirtle's boney skull. It's big eyes were shut, showing that it was clearly in pain, but it appeared that it was going to take a lot more to knock Nidoking out of the battle.

The two strong and experienced pokémon exchanged a series of close-range punches and other physical attacks back and forth, Squirtle exhibiting extreme agility and Nidoking showing its brute strength like two boxers from different weight classes duking it out.

But after a while, Ethan had seen enough.

"Alright, enough playing around. Nidoking... Time for Thunderbolt!"

Nidoking's massive horn began to glow an eerie neon yellow as it charged. In an instant, a gigantic lightning bolt of electricity flew towards Squirtle. The attack hit the water-type pokémon head on, and its power knocked the shelled-pokémon to the ground. It moaned and winced in obvious pain, but eventually returned to its feet.

Ash was amazed at how powerful Nidoking was. He had almost forgotten that Hart's ground-type pokémon famously specialized in electric-type attacks. He would have to be careful. One more electric shock like that and Squirtle would definitely be done for. The boy knew he had to think of something. No matter how great his squirtle was, he realized that it wouldn't be able to simply overpower Ethan's electrified nidoking.

The trainer contemplated substituting for Squirtle, but suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

"Alright, Squirtle, use Rain Dance, now!" Ash commanded from his post, extending his right arm towards his opponents.

The turtle pokémon shook off the lingering effects of Nidoking's attack and again jumped up into the air with its limbs extended. It puckered its mouth and shut its eyes, trying to muster up enough power. And with one deep exhale, it pointed its head skyward. The most powerful blast of crystal blue water Ash had ever seen shot out of Squirtle's open mouth and straight up into the air for what looked like miles.

The crowd applauded the majestic sight of Squirtle's attack, which looked like something out of a pokémon contest.

Soon after, the billions of tiny droplets from the attack condensed in the atmosphere high above the stadium. An enormous grey cloud quickly formed and grew huge enough to envelop the entire stadium in shade and darkness, quickly dwarfing the beautiful sunny sky.

"Good job, Squirtle! Now we can go to work!" Ash cheered as the ominous cloud cover continued to grow.

After a few moments, the black rain cloud had grown so large that tiny droplets of water began to tumble down towards the ground. Gradually, the rain became heavier and heavier. Eventually, it became a torrential downpour soaking the entire stadium.

"Ugh! Why'd Ash have to do that? Now everyone is all wet!" Dawn growled angrily, trying her best to shield her precious hair--which she had spent an hour brushing and styling earlier that morning--from the sheets of falling rain with her backpack.

"By flooding the entire field, Squirtle gains an advantage over Nidoking, a part-ground type," Brock explained from the seat next to her.

"Yeah, but everyone knows Ethan's nidoking knows a bunch of electric attacks," Max said, looking concerned. "If Ash isn't careful the water could actually help Ethan."

"Yeah, and it sure isn't an advantage for my hair and clothes," complained Dawn again. Her long, dark hair was quickly turning into a wet and tangled mess because of the rain.

It appeared that the rest of the many thousands of people in attendance agreed with Dawn, as a definite grumble of annoyance rained down from the stands.

Ash blushed and chuckled as he looked up at the angry crowd. They were obviously not pleased with Ash's choice of attacks. They'd have to deal with it, though. This was going to be his ticket to win this battle.

After only a few short minutes, the field started to look more like a large, rectangular pond. Ash ignored the fact that his clothes were now absolutely soaked and that he was standing ankle-deep in water. He still felt that warm and in-control feeling regarding the match. He was having a blast.

"Now, just wait for it," the boy whispered to himself.

"Nice strategy, Ash," he heard Ethan call out from his end. "Nidoking definitely doesn't like water… But I'm afraid it will only help my pokémon's electric attacks!"

The fifteen-year-old tried to hide his smile. The cocky expression on Ethan's face made it hard for Ash to contain his chuckling.

"You forgot, Ash," Ethan scolded his opponent. "Soaking the entire field… and well, the entire stadium, might increase the power of your water-type attacks, but it also turns the entire field into a huge electrical conductor. You're squirtle is toast!"

The older trainer didn't notice how calm and collected Ash looked from across the way. He assumed the young fifteen-year old had made a rookie mistake. He signaled for his nidoking to attack.

"Finish them off with Thunder attack!"

The giant horn on Nidoking's head started to glow a vivid yellow as it charged.

"You sure you wanna do that, Ethan?" Ash called out while Nidoking was still charging.

Ethan looked shocked to hear such a question. "What are you talking about, Ketchum? Quit stalling. Your squirtle is standing in a foot of water. There's no escaping my pokémon's Thunder attack."

"Squirtle isn't the only one," Ash quipped back. "Look down."

"What?" Lance looked down at his soaked feet and instantly a look of anger swept across his face when he had realized what had happened.

"An electric attack will definitely finish Squirtle, you're right Ethan," the boy replied. "But as you said, the whole stadium is now a giant electrical conductor. You use Thunder and you, me, and every fan in this building will be shocked as well."

"Damn you, Ketchum!" Ethan growled, knowing full well what Ash had done.

"Yup, so unless you want to hurt yourself… and all your adoring fans out there," the teen said, gesturing out towards the stadium full of metal bleachers. "You might want to stick to your non-electric attacks."

Ash was fully aware that Nidoking's only such attack was Horn-Drill, an attack that required the pokémon to run at full-speed to pull off. And with a good foot and a half of standing water on the field, that would be no easy task.

The boy chuckled, pleased with himself. He had outsmarted the Johto champion. Ethan couldn't use Thunder and risk shocking himself or the spectators. Such a move would certainly hurt Hart's precious relationship with his fans and could result in lost endorsements.

"The curse of fame," Ash thought to himself.

And by doing his homework last night, he knew Ethan couldn't switch out Nidoking. His remaining two pokémon were both fire-types and wouldn't fair well in the water either.

Nidoking tried and failed using Horn-Drill a couple of times, but Squirtle connected with strong Water-gun attacks both times. The hulking ground-type just couldn't land anything while being forced to wade through the water.

Finally, Ash decided to go for the deciding blow.

"All right, Squirtle," he shouted. "You been practicing that new move we worked on a while back?"

The pokémon nodded and grinned at its trainer.

"Great. Let's finish this then. Use Ice Beam!"

Squirtle's normally happy red eyes began to glow neon blue as he took another deep breath in. And in one explosive motion, the tiny-turtle pokémon shot a bright white beam of frigid energy towards Nidoking's feet.

The Ice Beam did not make direct contact with Ethan's pokémon, but that wasn't Ash's plan. The standing water that covered the field instantly froze solid around the giant pokémon's feet. It was trapped. Unable to free either leg from the icy shackles, Nidoking was nothing but a sitting psyduck.

"Quick Squirtle! Now use Ice Beam again!"

Before Ethan could react, Squirtle leaped into the air and fired another icy energy beam towards Nidoking which smashed into its face with tremendous force.

"Nidoking is unable to battle! Squirtle is the winner!" The referee signaled as soon as the purple-colored beast's frozen body collapsed to the flooded ground with a huge splash.

The enormous crowd was stunned. Had this no-name kid just taken out Ethan Hart's famous Nidoking… with a Squirtle? After a few moments of stunned silence, the fans began to applaud Ash and Squirtle's innovative strategy.

"Hah! Great job, buddy! Awesome battling! You deserve a good rest."

Ash bent down to hug his pokémon before returning it to its Poke-ball. He smiled. There hadn't been a doubt in his mind that Squirtle would be able to win.

He looked over at Ethan across the field and was surprised to see that the Johto champ looked more than frazzled. He looked absolutely devastated as he returned his nidoking to its ball. Perhaps knowing that he must now use his fire-type pokémon on a water-soaked field didn't exactly give him great confidence.

"Bulbasaur, it's your turn!" Ash yelled as he tossed his second Poke-ball. The metal sphere plunked beneath the water like a stone thrown into a lake. With a bright flash of light, a small lizard-like Pokemon with a healthy green bulb growing on its back emerged.

"Bulba! Bulba-Sooor!" the diminutive grass-type greeted as it began to tread water.

"Bulbasaur! Great to see you! Sorry about the wet field."

Ethan summoned his second pokémon as well: a black canine-pokémon with large horns and claws. Instantly the fire/dark-type howled in pain once it materialized and found itself standing in water.

"Houndoom," Ethan commanded. "I know it hurts, but if we can land an fire attack, we're right back in this! Look, that bulbasaur is too little to move around fast in the water. Let's use Flamethrower!"

Tiptoeing gingerly through the cold water, Ethan's houndoom shot a bright red and orange fire ball towards Ash's side of the field.

"All right, Buddy, let's show 'em! Use Vine Whip to dodge!"

Bulbasaur nodded and instantly, two green whip-like vines protruded from underneath the bulb on the pokémon's back. The long vines acted like two tall stilts as Bulbasaur used them to lift itself up above the water level. It easily side-stepped the Flamethrower attack, which harmlessly fizzled out when it hit the wet ground.

The crowd again applauded Ash's resourcefulness. Having Bulbasaur use Vine Whip to maneuver around the field was definitely a great strategy. It continued to dodge several more of Houndoom's misguided Flamethrower attacks, showing surprising speed and grace despite not being able to use its legs at all.

Knowing it was time to go on the offensive, Ash contemplated his move. He knew grass-type attacks such as Razor Leaf wouldn't be very effective against Houndoom. But perhaps…

"Let's try Leech Seed, Bulbasaur!"

Upon command, a tiny seed began to sprout from Bulbasaur's back-bulb. The pokémon propelled itself into the air and shot the tiny green seed towards Houndoom.

The small seed hit its target and stuck to Houndoom's black fur. Instantly, about a dozen leafy vines sprouted from it. The green, rope-like vines tangled the helpless fire-type and restrained its legs, sucking energy from it in the process.

The weakened Houndoom tried to free itself, but the Leech Seed vines held strong. Unable to balance itself, Ethan's pokémon fell to the ground with a splash. It howled in excruciating pain once again as soon as its body felt the cold water. It lay helpless, half-submerged, waiting to be put out of its misery.

"Okay, Houndoom's weak! Let's finish it with Solarbeam!" Ash shouted.

Bulbasaur, still suspending itself with its vines, began to charge the green bulb on its back once again as it collected the sunlight that had begun to peek through Squirtle's dissipating storm clouds. "Now!"

The bundled beam of solar energy shot from the grass-type's bulb and collided with the fallen Houndoom. The powerful attack caused an enormous cloud of white steam that shrouded the field in its mist after it struck.

"No! Houndoom!" Ash heard Ethan yell.

When the dust settled, the boy saw that the water on the field had evaporated as a result of Bulbasaur's Solarbeam. But that didn't matter. Houndoom's unconscious body lay motionless near midfield.

"_Houndoom is unable to battle! The blue trainer has only one Pokemon remaining!" _

"Awesome job, Bulbasaur!" Ash returned Bulbasaur to its ball and commended his old friend.

"No!" Ethan screamed dejectedly. After sadly returning Houndoom to its ball, the young man reached down for his last chance, and tossed it onto the field.

"All right. At least the water's gone. Let's see how you do on an even playing field, Ketchum!" Ethan shouted, a slight glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Go Typhlosion!" he shouted as a fierce-looking weasel-like pokémon appeared on the field.

Ash knew Typhlosion to be Ethan's strongest and most experienced pokémon. He had watched many battles on television in which Hart's ruthless fire-type had simply dominated its opponents. But Ash still wasn't worried in the slightest. He didn't know where this unwavering confidence had come from, but the boy felt like he just couldn't lose. Plus, he had his own fire power. Ash tossed his third Poke-ball onto the field.

"Charizard, you're up!"

With a bright flash of white light, an orange, leathery-skinned dragon-like Pokemon appeared and gave a menacing roar and bared its white dagger-like fangs. Black smoke emanated from its nostrils and its huge blue wings flapped violently after being released from the cramped Poke-ball. Ash heard the crowd's excited reaction to seeing the match-up between the two powerhouse fire-types. Everyone was shocked to see that this young kid they'd never heard of was now just one knockout away from defeating one of the best trainers in the world in dominant fashion.

Charizard had its familiar intense look in its eyes as it sized up its opponent from the east end of the field. The fire-type's young trainer had a similar look in his chocolate-brown eyes as he stared across the way at _his _counterpart_. _

As the two powerful beasts started the match by exchanging a few punches and tail-whips back and forth, Ash noticed the downtrodden expression on Ethan Hart's face.

The nineteen-year-old's head was down and his shoulders were slumped. He wasn't even paying full attention to the battle anymore. The man who had become a world-famous pokémon trainer due to his iron will and bold battling style now looked too rattled to even tell his Typhlosion what to do. He could only watch as his pokémon took hit after hit from Ash's charizard.

Ash watched as well as the two heavyweights continued to battle. It did impress him that while even though its trainer had already come to terms with defeat, Typhlosion was still battling hard in the name of its master. Commendable… but it wouldn't be enough.

After the boy watched Typhlosion beginning to grow tired from all its desperate attempts to land attacks on the much-quicker Charizard, Ash decided it was time to put his opponents out of their misery. "Charizard! Fly up in the air and use Dragonbreath!"

Upon command, the fiery dragon-pokémon took to the air. Its muscular wings carried the beast high above the field where it unleashed an eerie, green-colored flame from its mouth. The beam of toxic energy shot downwards towards the field where it struck Typhlosion directly, causing a massive explosion of green fire and a cloud of thick dust and smoke.

Once the dust settled, Ethan's fire-type could be seen wobbling dazedly around its end of the field. Its trainer half-heartedly tried to command it to steady itself and use another Flamethrower attack, but Ash acted faster.

"Quick, Charizard! Use Seismic Toss while its still dizzy!"

And with one swift swoop, the winged dragon descended with blazing speed down towards the ground like it was missile locked onto its target. As Charizard was just about to collide with its punch-drunk opponent, it grabbed onto Typhlosion and the two returned to the air.

Ethan's weakened pokémon couldn't break free of Charizard's grasp. The stadium once again 'oohed and aahed' at the sight of how fast the fire-dragon was. It soared high up in the air almost out of view, still clutching its victim.

Then like a meteor plummeting towards the earth, Charizard descended towards the field. It was nothing but an orange blur. And just before it crash landed into the ground, Charizard released the helpless Typhlosion and avoided smashing into the field with a swift flap of its wings.

The weasel-pokémon's impact with the ground was epic. Pieces of concrete, dust, and other debris flew into the air.

"Typhlosion!"

After a few moments of silence while the fans waited for the visibility to return, the crowd gave a collective gasp when they saw Ethan's mighty pokémon lying unconscious in the middle of the enormous crater it had created in the middle of the field.

Ash's eyes grew wide. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end once again. He held his breath as he watched and waited for Typhlosion to return to its feet. But it never happened.

"_Typhlosion is unable to battle," _Ash heard the referee shout. He almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. _"That means Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town is the winner of the match!"_


	5. Chapter Four: A Cruel Encounter

**CHAPTER FOUR - A CRUEL ENCOUNTER**

_Please Read and then Comment and Review!!_

* * *

"… _And that will do it! Young Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town has just completed a shocking, improbable, amazing upset of the Johto League Champion, Ethan Hart!"_ the T.V. play-by-play announcer shouted immediately after Hart's final pokémon had fallen in defeat.

The sixteen-year-old girl--who had been watching the television broadcast of the battle on her laptop-- gazed out the tiny window at the wispy white clouds that floated by. She brushed a stray lock of rust-colored hair from her face as she smiled weakly.

Of course she was overjoyed to have watched her friend vault himself to the forefront of the world's attention with his amazing victory today. She was bursting with pride after seeing him shock the world like he had just done. But the girl was upset that she hadn't gotten to Sapphire City in time for his first match. What kind of friend was she?

"Can I get you anything, dear? Soda? Peanuts? Hot towel?" the girl heard an overly cheerful female flight attendant in a blue suit ask from the aisle.

"No, I'm good," she replied coldly without looking away from the window.

The bubbly stewardess nodded and continued down the aisle with the refreshment cart. The teen looked at her wristwatch. Still probably six or seven hours until the plane would land in Sapphire City.

She was growing extremely impatient. Ash's first battle was already over, and the flight wasn't even halfway to its destination. She was becoming increasingly angry with herself for not gathering up the courage to come see him sooner. The girl pounded her fist on the armrest next to her in frustration.

"Damn it," she growled.

"I beg your pardon!" an elderly woman with graying blonde hair, who had been sleeping during the flight in the window seat right next to the girl, hissed at her with a cold frown.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" The girl blushed in embarrassment after she'd realized how loud she had yelled and that she had rudely awoken the old lady.

The woman softened her glare a bit when she saw that the red-headed teenager was obviously stressed about something. She reached into her pocket, took out her thin wire spectacles, and placed them on her careworn face.

"I take it you're flying into Sapphire City for the tournament then?" she said as she motioned toward the girl's computer screen.

"Yes, ma'am," she replied quietly before eventually warming to the old woman. "An old friend of mine is competing. We used to be best friends when we were younger… we've kind of drifted apart over the years. But he's been dreaming about competing in this tournament his entire life, so I feel like I owe it to him to come out and cheer him on in person…"

Before she knew it, the young girl had told the woman everything about Ash, their travels together during their childhood, and all the countless memories she had of the remarkable young boy from the town of Pallet.

Her sea green eyes twinkled as she talked about how she'd first met Ash and Pikachu over five years ago, about their many adventures together… and how the teens' relationship had changed ever since they had split up. The girl was actually glad to have someone to talk to about this, despite the fact that this old lady was a complete stranger.

"… I'm just scared that it's gonna be really awkward to see him after all this time has passed. I mean, it's been so long since we traveled together… maybe he's forgotten about me."

"Well, you certainly are a loyal friend, young lady," the woman commended. "And don't worry. It's clear that you and this boy were very close. I'm sure that once he sees your face, he'll remember that as well."

The girl thought about this. What would she do when she finally saw Ash again after all these years? What would she say to him? How would she even get a hold of him once she got to Sapphire City?

"Try not to worry. We will be arriving in Sapphire City soon," the old lady said, noticing that the girl was still nervous about seeing her old friend. "And as for Ash… when the moment comes and the two of you finally reunite, your heart will tell you what you should say and do."

The younger of the two women smiled at the kind words, although she wondered how this old lady could be so sure.

"By the way," the woman said, extending her hand across the armrest for a handshake, "I'm Agatha."

"Agatha?!"

The girl did a double-take upon hearing the name and looked more closely at the woman wearing her familiar old purple dress. Of course! How could she have failed to notice before?

"You're… you're_ the_ Agatha… of the Kanto Elite Four!"

Agatha chuckled when she saw the young girl staring in awe, her blue-green eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

"Yes, dear. That's me."

"Wow! It's an honor to actually meet you! I've been a huge fan of yours even since I was a little girl. My name's Misty."

"Misty…" Agatha shook Misty's hand and squinted to look more closely at her. "You wouldn't be the Misty from Cerulean City would you? The leader of the Cerulean City Gym?"

The girl almost screamed with excitement at the thought that the famous Agatha actually knew of her. She could barely breathe.

"Y-yes, ma'am… that's me," the red-head replied shyly, then asked, "Miss Agatha? Aren't you competing in the tournament too?"

The former Elite Four trainer chuckled again. "No, my dear. My battling days are over… these old bones forced me to retire a few years ago. I'm just flying out to watch the festivities like any other fan."

The two women continued to make small talk until they were interrupted once again by the television analyst's voice on the small screen in front of them.

"… _A huge win for the relatively unknown Ash Ketchum. The newcomer undoubtedly turned a lot of heads today with his decisive victory over one of the best in the world. Tune in tomorrow to see if the kid can continue his amazing tournament debut when he'll face the seductive and sassy new member of the Hoenn Elite Four, Miss Lacey!_

_The beautiful twenty-two year old Ice Queen is coming off an impressive victory herself. Her incredible ice-type pokémon looked unbeatable against Zak Seabrook earlier this morning, and many experts believe that she could be one of the favorites to win the entire tournament! She should have no trouble defeating Ketchum, despite his impressive debut…"_

Misty again growled angrily, "Those stupid T.V. people… why does everyone always think Ash is gonna lose? He just pounded Ethan Hart after all!"

Agatha just smiled, amused at how defensive the teenager was of her friend.

"Misty, I learned long ago not to worry about what the so-called 'experts' on television say. If Ash is anything like he was when I met him a few years back, I'm sure he'll continue to prove the pundits wrong."

"Wait… you _know_ Ash?" Misty asked, sounding shocked.

"Yes, of course. I battled him a few years ago in Viridian City. And I must say… he put up quite a fight. And that was as a ten-year-old!"

Misty smiled when she remembered how excitable ten-year-old Ash was and how pumped he must have been to battle someone like Agatha, a world-famous trainer.

"Yes, I remember him well," the woman continued. "And although he's being portrayed as the underdog by the media, Ash definitely has the respect of those in the trainer community. Many of my colleagues have met him as well at one time or another, and every single one of them say that one thing stood out to them about Ash: he truly loves his pokémon. He doesn't seek out fame or fortune. He didn't set off on his pokémon journey as a ten-year-old with dreams of becoming a celebrity. No, he does what he does because he loves it. Because he truly cares for his pokémon and treats them as equals… as friends. Yes, from what I saw and from what everyone who has met him says, he definitely seems like a remarkable young man… but of course, I don't need to tell you that, right Misty?"

The girl blushed so that the color of her face matched her hair. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, she felt a sense of warmth and happiness overtake her body as the plane continued on its course towards Sapphire City.

"Ha-hah! We did it, Pikachu!" Ash shouted jubilantly as he burst through the door and leaped onto the twin-sized bed back in his guestroom at the Pokémon Center. He pumped his fists in the air wildly as he jumped up and down on the springy mattress.

Pikachu joined the boy in the festivities as he too began bouncing on the bed gleefully. It had been hours since Ash and Charizard had defeated Ethan Hart's typhlosion, but the young trainer and his pokémon were definitely still riding high emotionally from their victory. There was no way either of them were going to be able to sleep tonight.

"Woo-hoo! I can't believe we won!" the boy cheered.

"Pi-Kah!"

They were so busy rejoicing that they didn't even hear the door to the room squeak open.

"Ash? Umm… Did we come at a bad time?" a familiar voice giggled from the doorway.

The boy was startled at first. He whirled around and tried his best to play it cool and make it look like he hadn't been shamelessly celebrating his victory like a little kid.

"Oh! Hi… ummm," he stuttered as he looked to the doorway and saw who was at the door. Brock, May, Dawn, Max, Johanna, and his own mother were all standing there trying hard not to laugh at him.

"We were just… we were just testing my bed's springs out before we go to sleep," Ash muttered.

Pikachu looked embarrassed but it was hard to tell whether it was because they had been caught jumping on the bed or because of his trainer's lame attempt to play it off.

"Yeah right," May laughed. "Some things never change, Ash. When it comes to winning battles, you're still a little kid at heart."

Everyone laughed and entered the room to celebrate along with their friend.

"Oh, Ash… I'm so proud of you," Delia stepped forward and gave her son, who at fifteen was now taller than her, a big hug and ruffled his messy black hair. "You were so great!"

"Thanks mom," Ash mumbled as he tried to pull away from his mother's embrace when she leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. After he had escaped her grasp and wiped the remnants of his mother's lip balm from his face, he grinned at his friends whom he hadn't seen in nearly three years. "Thanks again for coming guys! It's great to see you all!"

"Are you kidding? We wouldn't have missed it for the world," Brock replied as he slapped Ash on the back.

"Thanks you guys," the boy replied with the sincerest of smiles.

Ash blinked his brown eyes rapidly, trying desperately not to tear up in front of everyone. Here he was, together with his best friends in the world once again… friends with whom he had shared a lifetime's worth of memories with.

For probably an hour or so, the group chatted, reminiscing about memories passed and filling each other in about their present-day lives. For Ash, it had been so long since he had seen May, Max and Brock, that it was great to catch up.

It had been several years since Brock had left Ash's side to return home to Pewter City. The nineteen-year-old had finally achieved his dream of becoming a successful pokémon breeder. His younger brother, Forrest, was still acting as the Pewter City Gym leader, and Brock had opened his very own pokémon daycare and research facility center next door where he was having the time of his life breeding and raising all sorts of pokémon.

May had rekindled her childhood romance with her friend Drew from LaRousse City. The two had been traveling together for years, and their relationship naturally bloomed into something far beyond just friendship. Together, the two coordinators had been sailing the seas near the Orange Islands and competing in contests throughout the region. So far, May had accumulated three ribbons, but she was more than willing to take a break from her journey in order to come support her good friend in the biggest tournament in the world.

The youngster, Max, had finally begun his pokémon training journey. After years of tagging along with his big sister and her friends, the boy was finally able to travel on his own. Now eleven, he had already won himself five gym badges from around his native Hoenn Region. It stunned Ash to see how grown up Max looked as he spoke about his pokémon. The last time the two had traveled together was nearly four years ago, and he felt a feeling of pride to see Max doing so well on his adventures.

And of course, there was Dawn, who had been traveling with Ash as recently as a few days ago. The two of them had become inseparable after years of friendship, which had been completely platonic until last night, when the girl had strangely kissed him on the cheek. But he tried not to think about it. It was just a simple peck… she probably didn't mean anything by it, he thought to himself.

"But enough about us," May's voice interrupted Ash's thoughts. "What about you?! You were so awesome out there today!"

"Yeah, you really kicked Ethan Hart's butt!" Max exclaimed.

"Hah, thanks guys," Ash replied. "I guess I just got lucky."

"Lucky?"

Ash took the mysterious gold coin out of his pocket to show the group. He told everyone about how it had been strangely left outside his door the night before along with a note promising that the coin would help him during the daunting task that awaited him.

"The note says that 'the time has come for this to be returned to you,'" Johanna, Dawn's mother, said as she read the mysterious handwritten note.

"Yeah, I thought that part was weird. I've never seen this coin before in my life, so I'm not sure how it could be returned to me," Ash said.

"Weird," Dawn said as she examined the beautiful gold disc in her hands. "So it's supposed to help you during the tournament or something? How?"

"No idea. But as you guys saw, it definitely worked. It brought me a ton of luck against Ethan."

"Maybe it's just someone playing a joke," Brock said. "There's no such thing as good-luck charms."

"I don't know, Brock," Ash replied, flipping the coin up in the air and catching it. "I just beat one of the most talented trainers on the planet, three straight. How else do you think I was able to do that?"

"Oh, I don't know… Maybe hard work, good strategy, a great relationship between you and your pokémon?" May suggested. "Did you ever stop to think that you might have actually won the match based on your own talents, Ash?"

"Yeah, but you've heard what people have been saying," Ash said. "I'm going up against the very best trainers alive. I'm just some small-town kid that no one's ever heard of. I'm lucky to even be in this tournament."

"Honey! You don't really believe that, do you?!" Ash's mother scolded. "You are a great pokémon trainer! You belong here. You've already proven that."

"Yeah, Ash. Don't listen to what the idiots on T.V. say," Dawn said. "We've all known you for a long time, and we've seen what you're capable of… and none of us are surprised that you won today."

"Yup, that's right," Max said, not wanting to be left out. "And it's not just us…"

Ash looked confused about what the younger boy had meant by his last statement. He watched as the eleven-year-old trainer removed his teal-blue backpack, unzipped it and dumped its contents onto the room's hardwood floor.

Dozens of pokéballs fell from Max's backpack to the floor with a series of small, metallic-sounding thuds. Almost instantly each orb popped open and a huge blinding white light illuminated the entire room.

Ash gasped when he saw dozens of pokémon emerge from the spheres that Max had unloaded from his pack.

Alongside Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charizard appeared… Ash's pokémon… all of them.

One by one, each of the boy's pokémon materialized from the bright light and greeted their trainer. Kingler, Sceptile, Snorlax, Noctowl, Torterra and everyone else who had been living back at Pallet Town with Professor Oak were there. They all shouted out in agreement with Ash's friends. They too believed in their trainer. After all, together they had experienced a lifetime's worth of adventures and won many battles along the way.

Ash's spirits were lifted when he saw all of his friends that he had made during his long journeys. He looked each pokémon in the face and smiled when he remembered how he had met and befriended each and every one. Muk, Bayleef, and a few others were so happy to see Ash that they tackled him, and he fell back onto the bed and laughed.

"Wow, the gang's all here, huh?" the boy finally said, trying not to get too emotional. "How'd you all get here?"

"_Why, I sent them there, of course!"_

Ash whirled around when he heard Professor Oak's voice. He saw that Delia was holding her cellular phone in her hand, and that the old man's face was on the phone's little video screen display.

Delia handed the phone to her son, and she and the rest of the gang all sat down next to Ash on the bed while the pokémon all began playing with each other around the room.

"_We were all watching your match today, Ash. All of your pokémon were incredibly excited to congratulate you on your big win, so I rounded everyone up and sent them over to Max."_ Oak's voice sounded choppy from the cell phone, but clear enough to decipher nonetheless.

"Thanks, Professor! It's great to see everyone!" Ash replied. "I just hope the win today wasn't a fluke."

"_Nonsense, boy,"_ the man said. _"Try not to put too much pressure on yourself. Have you read the papers or watched the T.V. coverage, Ash? Everyone's saying you got lucky out there tonight. They're saying you just caught Ethan Hart on a bad day. They still don't believe that you belong in this tournament."_

"Gee, thanks for reminding me," Ash muttered. He had an annoyed look on his face.

"_Oh, sorry. My point is… when you go out there tomorrow against Lacey, all the pressure is on her! She's the star, the heavy favorite. She's supposed to beat you. That goes for everyone in this tournament, Ash. You're still the underdog. So you see… You really have nothing to lose! You've already exceeded most people's expectations of you. Now, you can just go out there and battle like it's any other battle… do you understand?"_

Ash did understand. Despite his miraculous first-match victory, the expectations of him still weren't very high at all. He would definitely be expected to lose to anyone he might face… He was the underdog, like Oak had said. Just how he had always been during his childhood… just how he liked it.

"I think so," Ash finally cracked a confident smile. "Thanks, Professor Oak."

"_No problem, my boy. And good luck tomorrow… I know you can make it two-for-two! Just believe in yourself."_ Professor Oak said before he hung up the video phone and the screen on Delia's phone went dark.

"And thanks… all of you." the trainer turned to look at his mother, his friends, and all of his pokémon. "You guys are the best!"

Everyone was glad to see that Ash had regained some confidence. The group shared a few laughs and watched the boy's pokémon jump around and play for a while. Above all, however, they all just enjoyed each other's company again. It had been a long time since they had all been reunited like this.

After a while, Delia and Johanna stood up from the bed and yawned.

"Well, it's probably about time we headed back to the hotel," Ash's mother said. "You need your sleep, honey."

"Yea, we all do, I think. It's been a busy day," Johanna nodded in agreement before giving Ash a friendly hug. "We'll see you tomorrow, young man."

"I'll take all your pokémon back to the lobby so we can send them back to Professor Oak," Max said eagerly.

"Wait," Brock interjected as he too stood up from the bed and put on his shoes. "Who are you gonna use tomorrow, Ash? Surely Charizard, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle will be too tired to battle again so soon."

Ash stood up along with everyone else and returned his pokémon to their pokéballs one at a time. Before long, everyone except for Pikachu was back in their balls, including his original Kanto 'starters,' who had earned a good rest after their battle earlier that day.

"Hmm… I'm not sure yet," Ash replied with a smile. "You know me, Brock, I'm not very good at thinking ahead. I know Pikachu here is itching to battle, but other than that… I guess I'll have to sleep on it."

"Pi-kachu!" The yellow mouse looked pumped up to battle tomorrow.

Brock and everyone else laughed at how true Ash's statement was. He was notorious for acting on impulse rather than planning ahead. But it had worked for him for years, so no one questioned it.

"All right, Sweetie!" Delia gave Ash another hug as the group made their way to the door. "Go brush your teeth and then go straight to bed. I love you, Ash... my little Pokémon Master."

"Mooom! I'm almost sixteen!" the boy frowned and blushed, but reluctantly hugged his mother back. "I'm not little anymore!"

"Yeah, and you aren't a Pokémon Master either!" Dawn joked.

"Good luck tomorrow, Ash!"

"Thanks guys. I'll see ya tomorrow."

And with that, the group exited the room, leaving Ash and Pikachu alone. The two friends again were sprawled out on the bed together, allowing them to decompress after their long and stressful day. Pikachu gradually dozed off while lying on his back on the clean linen sheets. The boy joined his friend on the bed, but just lay awake, looking up at the dark ceiling. He couldn't sleep. So much was on his mind.

Ash decided to get up. He walked over to the window across the bedroom, past the big easy-chair where his hat and shoes had been thrown onto. The smooth hardwood floor felt slippery underneath his socks.

The boy gazed out his room's only window towards the starry night sky and the full moon. His guestroom here in Sapphire City definitely had an awesome view at night, he thought. His room overlooked the beautiful city, which looked even more breathtaking at night. The moon's soft, pearly glow seemed to bathe the entire skyline.

Suddenly, something in the night sky caught Ash's eye. Among the many twinkling stars and the huge, full moon, he saw a glowing object soaring through the darkness like a jet.

"What is that?" he said out loud, his mouth hanging wide open.

Ash continued to stare and squinted to try to make out exactly what the object was. It was clear that the flying object was extremely far away, but he thought it looked like a large, golden bird of some kind, with a huge, flapping wingspan. The graceful flying beast was vividly glowing like a beacon against the black curtain of night.

"Wait… is that… it can't be… Ho-Oh?!"

Ho-Oh was the legendary pokémon that Ash had encountered several times in the past. Rarely did anyone ever believe Ash when he claimed that he had seen it before because of its mythical status, but that didn't matter to the boy. He knew what he had seen.

Suddenly, Ash felt something very warm in his pocket. The heat of the object increased until he could feel it burning his leg. It began to vibrate against his thigh like a cell phone. He reached into his jeans and pulled out the lucky gold coin, which was now almost too hot to hold.

Ash gasped when he looked at the object in his hand. One of the five gemstones that were imbedded in the coin's metal surface was now glowing. The red ruby-colored jewel, one of the four colored jewels surrounding the diamond in the middle, looked like it was on fire, it was glowing so brightly.

The teen blinked twice and rubbed his eyes with both hands to make sure he was seeing straight. But as soon as he regained focus, the glowing ruby went dark and the coin's surface cooled back to normal.

He looked out the window again, but the golden bird was gone as well, and all Ash saw was the darkness of the night and the moon staring back at him.

"Huh?! Where did it go? What in the world is going on?"

That was it. There was no way Ash could just go to sleep now. Something weird was definitely going on. He stopped and examined the gold coin once more, but it looked just as it did before so he returned it to his pocket.

As for Ho-Oh… or whatever it was that he had seen, he wanted to go outside and investigate.

Ash walked briskly over to where he had thrown off his shoes, hat, and grey sweatshirt. As he pulled his sweatshirt on and began to tie his shoes, he heard a tiny voice call over from the bed.

"Pikapi?"

It was Pikachu, standing at the foot of the bed and rubbing the sleepiness from his beady little eyes.

"Oh, sorry to wake you buddy," Ash apologized while he adjusted his navy-blue hat on his head. "I'm just gonna go outside and check on something… I thought I saw something flying out there." He pointed out the window.

"Pi-kachu!"

Pikachu jumped off of the bed and bounded over next to Ash, signaling that he intended to go with his trainer.

"All right," Ash chuckled. "We'll both go."

Ash and Pikachu made their way from the boy's room down the hallway and into the empty lobby. It was a stark contrast to what the Pokémon Center's lobby had looked like just hours earlier when it was bustling with people, namely media members and rabid fans.

Soon, the two friends made their way outside of the stadium's Pokémon Center and were greeted by the cold nighttime air and starry sky.

Ash stood on the concrete walkway that thousands of spectators had used earlier that day on their way inside the stadium's front entrance near the attached Pokémon Center. It was very peaceful at this time of night. The boy stared up at the starry sky which acted as a gorgeous background to the breath-taking Sapphire City skyline.

Pikachu perched himself at his favorite spot on Ash's shoulder. Together the two sat in silence just gazing up at the sky, but they could see nothing out of the ordinary.

"Well, maybe I was seeing things" Ash said finally, although he knew for sure he hadn't imagined the coin in his pocket feeling like it was on fire.

The two friends gave the heavens one last look before turning to return inside.

"_Sniffle, sniffle."_

Suddenly a faint whimpering sound stopped Ash and Pikachu in their tracks.

"Pi?"

"What was that, Pikachu?"

The faint sound was coming from around the corner of the Pokémon Center, probably fifty yards from where the pair was standing. It sounded like a girl crying.

Ash and Pikachu ran down the walkway along the building's perimeter and turned the corner.

They saw the beautiful flower garden that Ash had admired a few days ago when he first arrived in town. Tonight, the pearly glow of the moon bathed the wide bed of tulips, lilies, and roses in a soft white light. The path the two of them were on led them through the elaborate terrace. There had to have been a few thousand flowers on either side of the walkway. A gorgeous stone fountain, which had crystal clear water flowing up out of it, sat near the top of the little courtyard.

The boy surveyed the area until he saw who had been making the noises. Seated on one of the wooden park benches along the pathway about twenty feet away was a girl... or a young lady. Ash couldn't tell exactly how old she was because she was hunched over with her face buried in her hands. But judging by her physique and her dress-- a plain, snug-fitting dark blue polo shirt, khaki-colored jeans and blue sneakers-- she was probably a teenager.

As the trainer and his pikachu walked closer, they could see that the girl was obviously crying. They stopped in their tracks. Not knowing what else to do, Ash went up to her.

"Is this seat taken?" he asked gently, trying not to startle her.

Without looking up, the dark brown-haired girl shook her head no. Ash sat down next to her and peered over. He couldn't see her face because it was hidden by her hands, but her heaving shoulders and sniffling sounds told the boy that she was very upset.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?!"

The girl just ignored Ash and continued to whimper. He was a bit alarmed at how distressed this girl appeared to be. He hoped nothing was seriously wrong, but he had always been horrible at figuring out the right thing to say in these situations.

"Well, my name's Ash, and this is my pal Pikachu."

"Pikah-Chu!" the yellow rodent greeted as he leaped up onto the bench next to the girl.

"Yes, I know who you are," the girl finally said in between sniffles. "I watched you on television today against Ethan Hart."

The petite teenager finally lifted her head and revealed her tear-covered face. Her pretty green eyes twinkled vibrantly as they caught the moonlight. She shyly glanced over at Ash.

"Yup that's me," the boy mumbled bashfully. As he met eyes with the girl, he could feel his cheeks getting warm, but he didn't exactly know why.

"So, I'm sorry to bother you," he continued, "but... why are you crying?"

"Oh, it's nothing," the girl muttered as she wiped her tears with her shirt sleeve.

"Doesn't seem like nothing," the boy replied quietly as he took a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to the girl.

"No, really. I'm all right. I was just out here getting some air," she insisted as she accepted the piece of cloth and dried her eyes,

"Yeah, but weren't you were crying?"

"Look!" the girl finally snapped. "No offense, but I don't need you to worry about me. I said I'm fine. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

She stood up from the bench and handed Ash back his handkerchief before briskly walking away and back down the garden's pathway.

Ash and Pikachu remained seated and watched the tall, slender teen march off. He was a bit shocked at the girl's reaction, but then again, if something was bothering him like that, he might not want some stranger being all nosey and demanding to know what was wrong either. After he thought about it for a few minutes, Ash came to the conclusion that he had come on too strongly. He didn't know what he always did that: always felt the need to be the hero; always feeling like he had to help everyone.

There was silence for a few minutes while the two friends continued to just sit, enjoying the peace and serenity of the garden and the moonlight. But suddenly, something caught Pikachu's eye.

"Pikapi!" he cried out and pointed up towards the starry sky.

"What is it, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

He looked up towards where his pokémon and gasped at the dazzling sight that he saw. High in the night sky he saw an extremely bright ball of colorful and radiant light. It was much larger, brighter and more intense than any of the stars in the sky or the moon, like an exploding voltorb.

"Whoa," was all Ash could say as he gazed skyward.

"Piikkaaa!" the mesmerized mouse agreed.

"I think that's the supernova explosion that we heard about on the news yesterday," Ash said, never taking his eyes off the huge explosion of light. "They said some star far away exploded, and it's gonna be visible to us all week. Pretty cool, huh Pikachu?"

"Pikaah."

"Yup. I guess it only happens once every few thousand years, so we're pretty lucky to be able to see it."

The two friends smiled at each other after they had again shared yet another once-in-a-lifetime memory together. They continued to gaze up at the magnificent celestial light show for awhile before Ash stood up and yawned.

"Wow, it must be really late, Pikachu," the boy said. "I guess we'd better head back inside and get some sleep. I guess nothing exciting is going on out here after all."

"Pika-Chu."

The two friends stood up from the park bench and began to follow the path back around the building towards the entrance of the Pokémon Center. But as they turned the corner of the building, Ash and Pikachu stopped suddenly when they heard a girl's scream.

"Hey! Oww! Get off me! Heeeelp!" they heard a voice struggled to shriek, obviously under duress.

"Shut the fuck up, you bitch!" another voice immediately hollared. This one was deep and baritone.

Immediately, Ash and Pikachu glanced over at one another with grave looks on their faces. They both nodded and took off running, following the sounds of the female screams.

The two of them sprinted along the Pokémon Center's perimeter until a couple of of shadowy figures caught their attention near a group of bushes that decorated the exterior of the stadium. The two shadows, who had clearly been wrestling on the grass, stopped when Ash yelled.

"Hey! What's going on?!"

Pikachu's furry red cheeks began to emit small crackles of yellow electricity as it stood at attention on all fours, ready to pounce on the assailants if need be.

"Help! Please help!" the shadowy figure with the female voice screamed.

As the smaller figure ran towards Ash and out of the shadows, he could see that it was none other than the girl who had stormed away just minutes ago. There were tears flowing down her terrified face as she ran behind Ash to hide. Her shirt was ripped and her pants were unzipped.

"Hey, come back here!" the male voice boomed. A huge silhouette approached Ash and emerged from the shadows as well.

A very large and muscular young man with short, heavily-gelled hair staggered towards Ash and Pikachu. As he came into the moonlight, Ash could plainly see that this guy was very drunk. His chiseled face was flushed and eyes looked bloodshot and glazed over as he stumbled across the grass.

The hulking man's skin was so tan that he almost appeared to be orange in color. His massive arms and shoulders barely squeezed into the skin-tight pastel-yellow polo shirt he was wearing with its collar turned upward. His yellow-checkered shorts and brown sandals completed his casual college frat boy look.

"Hey, b-baby... where'd you go?" he slurred, looking right past Ash and Pikachu and glaring at the girl behind him. "C'mon. Let's go back up to my room."

"That guy grabbed me when I was walking, and he pinned me to the ground!" the girl whimpered as she grasped onto Ash's arm and trembled. "He... he dragged me over there and tried to... he tried to..."

The brawny man marched closer towards them, looking extremely possessed by his intoxication. His eyes were barely open, but he growled angrily at the teens as he towered over them.

"Well if it isn't little Ash Ketchum! What are doing out here, boy? Isn't it past your bedtime?" he said in a mocking tone.

"Don't worry about it, man," the fifteen-year-old said firmly, refusing to show how nervous he was to be toe-to-toe with this enormous drunken behemoth. He wasn't exactly sure how this guy knew his name, but Ash just figured he had recognized him from the battle with Ethan.

"Who are you? Why you messin' with this girl?" Ash demanded when the man continued to eye the scared girl like some sort of predator.

Pikachu growled and bared its tiny teeth, still standing next to his trainer with his electric attacks charged and ready.

"Bwahah! Who am I?" The man bursted out laughing and nearly fell over. "Don't tell me you don't know who _I_ am?!"

The man, who was probably in his mid-to-late twenties, looked offended that Ash didn't know him. He had a menacing look on his face that was visible even at this time of night.

"Dude, are you a complete dumb-ass? Everybody knows who I am! Everybody knows Zak Seabrook!" The inebriated jock pointed at himself as he spoke in the third person.

He recognized the name right away. Zak was a pokémon trainer and a fellow tournament participant who was also in Ash's first-round group along with Ethan Hart and Miss Lacey. He would be battling Zak in his third and final match… and more than likely, Ash would have to win that match to advance to the second round since he still didn't have much hope of beating Lacey tomorrow, an Elite Four member.

"I caught your battle on T.V. earlier today, Ketchum," he mumbled almost incoherently. "Way to get lucky!"

Ash initially took great exception to the insult, but then realized he didn't exactly have a right to.

"Look, man," the boy said as he gritted his teeth and tried to keep a cool tone. "You've obviously had too much to drink. It's probably about time for you to go inside the Pokémon Center and get some sleep."

Zak just scoffed and flexed his muscles. Ash was barely tall enough to come up to the man's broad chest.

"That girl's coming with me to my room, then," the man said very matter-of-factly as though she had no say in the matter. "I saw her first... I was just coming home from a party and I seen her walking... she's got quite the ass on her, I must say. So c'mon kid, just beat it... I can take care of her. Get lost."

The man tried to step past Ash in order to grab the crouching girl. As the boy felt the girl cowering behind him he instantly stepped to shield her from him, resulting in the two of them to bump shoulders.

"Don't fuck around, Ketchum," the man warned angrily. "I'm not someone you wanna be messin' with."

"She doesn't want to go with you," Ash said. The two of them were now just inches apart.

"Pikaaah!" the electric mouse growled loudly.

"What, are you and that pathetic little rat going to stop me?" the drunk man hiccuped.

But Zak didn't give Ash time to respond. He swiftly shoved the boy in the chest with full force. The fifteen-year-old went flying backward and collided hard against the concrete foundation of the building, looking noticeably dazed. He groaned groggily in pain and held his head.

"Now," Zak put his huge arms around the now unprotected girl. "Where were we?"

"Get off of me, you creep! Ash!? Help me!"

"Ooh, you're a f-feisty one! You and I are gonna have a lot of fun tonight! Now just settle down and--OUCH!!!"

Zak stopped mid-sentence, and his grasp loosened when he felt a sharp, searing pain in his forearm.

It was Pikachu. The diminutive pokémon had leapt to the rescue and sunk his small but razor-sharp teeth into Seabrook's arm when he saw that Ash was still dazed from hitting his head against the cement building.

Zak roared in pain, cursed loudly, and eventually shook the rodent off of his arm. Pikachu landed hard on the ground, but shot right back up and glared angrily at the man. The fur on the back of Pikachu's head and neck was standing straight up. Tiny, yellow warning-sparks of electricity again began emanating from his cheeks, glowing especially bright out here at night time.

The brown-haired girl ran over to Ash and helped him up. He shook off his piercing headache and both teens ran over to Pikachu who was obviously poised to attack the muscular molester once again.

"That fucking hurt! I'm gonna kill that rat, Ketchum!"

Zak looked angrily at his bleeding forearm before removing a pokéball from his pocket. He threw it towards Ash where it landed in the grass. A giant blue and black pokémon with dozens of green, slimy tentacles protruding out from underneath its body appeared and stood ready to fight.

"Tenta-CROOOOOOOOOOL!" the alien-looking pokémon roared.

"Let's fuck them up, Tentacruel!" the man barked immediately. "Use Hyper-beam, full-blast!"

Before Ash or Pikachu could react, Zak's tentacruel shot a humungous beam of multicolored energy right towards them.

Time seemed to stand still as Ash watched the sparkling wave of lethal energy heading straight for them like they were standing on the tracks in front of an oncoming train. Unable to counter with any sort of protective attack in time, Ash, Pikachu and the brown-haired teenage girl could only shut their eyes and prepare for unspeakable pain or perhaps even death depending on how strong this particular pokémon's Hyper-beam happened to be.

* * *

**_PLEASE COMMENT/REVIEW!! NOW!!! _**


	6. Chapter Five: Dead or Alive?

**CHAPTER FIVE: DEAD OR ALIVE?**

**

* * *

**

It was a surreal feeling to realize that your life was about to end.

In the split second that it took for Tentacruel's kaleidoscopic beam of deadly energy to hurtle through the cold night air towards him from across the lawn, Ash Ketchum came to the chilling realization that he would soon cease to exist. The Hyperbeam that Zak's pokemon had fired was definitely not a run-of-the-mill battle attack... this was a kill shot.

Ash realized he would no longer need to worry about his life goals and dreams... he would be gone before he could achieve any of them. He would never again see his his friends, his family, Professor Oak... Pikachu; he would be leaving them forever. As far as he was concerned, the world was about to end.

The boy had very little time to think about death, however. He felt the brown-haired girl's shrill scream rattle his eardrums, and he shut his eyes. This was it. This was the end.

_**WHOOOOSH!  
**_

Zak's Hyperbeam struck Ash-- who had made sure to shield both Pikachu and the girl from the attack-- square in the chest, sending the boy flying backward like a rag doll. As he crash landed in the grass, he immediately felt indescribable pain, like a hundred knives were all stabbing him in the heart at once. He lay motionless on the ground, the life in him quickly fleeting away. Ash tried to gasp for air, but judging by the torturous agony he felt with each breath, he had obviously sustained some severe internal injuries.

The boy began violently coughing up so much blood that his clothes were soon soaked with thick, red liquid. He tried to climb to his feet, but he had lost all feeling in his extremities and remained in a heap on the ground. Gradually the searing pain in his chest faded as he slowly began to lose consciousness.

"_Pikapi!"_ Ash barely heard his pokemon's voice crying from right next to his ear.

'Pikachu..." Ash's voice trailed off as he faded away.

"Ash!"

"Pikapi!"

His vision was dark and blurry now, but Ash saw his pokémon standing right next to his face. The tears that welled up in his beady black eyes twinkled as they caught what little light there was at this time of night. The yellow furry mouse whom Ash had shared ten lifetimes' worth of memories with was now standing in disbelief as he watched his trainer die.

The boy grunted and tried hard to force his facial muscles to form a smile in hopes of comforting Pikachu.

"Take... care of everyone... Pika... Chu," he struggled to whisper.

And with that, everything turned black.

* * *

The full moon over Sapphire City bathed the slumbering town in a soft, pearly white glow. Nightfall had brought an aura of peacefulness to the bustling city, which stood silently underneath the blanket of stars.

The chaos and excitement from the first full day of competition at the Pokémon World Champions League had finished, and the tournament's competitors, fans, reporters, and officials had all retired for the night.

But across town inside the luxurious Sapphire City Hotel, at least one young girl remained wide awake.

Dawn tossed and turned in the twin-sized bed she was lying in, struggling to find a comfortable enough position so that she could fall asleep. The teen tried counting mareeps and humming tunes to herself, but nothing seemed to work. All she could do was hopelessly stare up at the ceiling and out the window overlooking the beautiful city skyline from her bed.*The boisterous rhythm of snoring and steady breathing from nearby also prevented the girl from falling asleep.

The others were scattered throughout the enormous luxury suite that Ash had gotten for them while they were in town this week. Delia and Johanna were sharing the king-size bed back in the master bedroom. Brock had fallen asleep in the love seat in front of the television in the next room. And there were two queen beds in the main living area of the suite, where May and Max shared one and Dawn attempted to sleep in the other.

Dawn was wearing silky boxer shorts and a white spaghetti-strap tank top. She kicked the soft covers off of her with her bare feet, but she felt uncomfortable without them, so she quickly pulled them back over herself.

This continued for what felt like hours. The girl felt sweaty and clammy underneath the blankets, but too cold without them. She sighed. She would never get to sleep at this rate. Especially not with everything that was on her mind.

A million thoughts were whizzing through the fourteen-year-old's brain. She kept trying to focus on clearing her mind and falling asleep, but each and every time she tried to think about anything at all, her thoughts always came back to one thing… Ash Ketchum.

As Dawn struggled with her insomnia, she wondered if Ash had forgotten about when she had inexplicably kissed him on the cheek the other night. He hadn't mentioned anything about it a few hours ago when everyone had gone to see him at the Pokémon Center, but then again, this was probably something he wouldn't have wanted to discuss publicly.

Of course he hadn't forgotten, Dawn concluded. She began to replay the scenario in her head over and over, and each mental flashback freaked her out more and more.

She began to wonder how Ash had reacted to the kiss after she had run out of the room. She hadn't seen his face after the fact, and she didn't know whether or not he had been disgusted by it. Dawn's mind continued to be bombarded by her panic.

_Would the kiss change Ash and Dawn's long friendship? Should she say something to him? Should she just pretend it never happened? Maybe, just maybe… he liked it?_

"Ugh!" Dawn groaned and buried her face in her pillow. "Who am I kidding? I'm _such_ an idiot."

_**KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!  
**_

Suddenly a loud knock on the room's front door caused her to jump. Who in the world would be knocking at this hour?

Dawn decided to ignore the sound; hopefully it would just go away. She pulled the covers over her face and waited, but sure enough, another set of three loud bangs against the wooden hotel door caused her to sit up.

"Okay. Okay. I'm coming," she muttered under her breath.

Dawn finally got out of bed when it was obvious that no one else in the room was going to wake up. She stepped down onto the carpeted floor, which felt soft and warm underneath her feet. She walked over to the door and peered out of the tiny hole to see who it was.

But she couldn't see anything. The view from the peephole was nothing but blackness. Perhaps whoever was out there was covering the hole with his or her hand.

Dawn was in no mood for games. It was late. She decided to just open the door; maybe it was just some kids playing a prank. As it swung open, however, she gasped at who she saw standing there in the hallway.

It was _Ash_!

He was standing in the doorway grinning from ear to ear. He didn't say a word as he marched past Dawn and into the dark bedroom. He sat down at the foot of her bed, the mischievous smile never leaving him. Only the moonlight trickling in through the window illuminated the room enough for Dawn to see his ruggedly attractive face.

"Uh… Ash? What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the Pokémon Center… sleeping? You have a match tomorrow," she whispered.

Dawn closed the door and walked over to Ash looking more than puzzled. _Why does he have that big grin on his face? Why isn't he saying anything?_

Ash remained silent as he stood up from the bed in front of Dawn. He moved closer to her until they were standing just inches apart. She looked up at the taller boy, confused to say the least.

Finally Ash spoke; he spoke softly so as not to wake up anyone else in the room.

"We didn't get a chance to really discuss what happened the other night, Dawn… you know, when you… kissed me."

Dawn became even more nervous when she heard this, realizing that the boy hadn't simply forgotten about what had happened. She stammered as she tried to come up with an explanation.

"Oh, ummm… look, Ash. I'm really sorry. I don't know what happened. I just--"

She stopped when he suddenly leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

Dawn blushed heavily when she felt his lips softly touching her smooth skin. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire. After he pulled away, she looked up at Ash and stared into his twinkling brown eyes.

She was confused. What had gotten into him? He usually couldn't run away fast enough from any hint of romance or 'mushy stuff,' as he often called it.

"It's okay, Dawn. What happened the other night... I've been waiting for that for a long time. I guess I just never had the courage… but _now_ I do," Ash said, then leaned over and kissed Dawn again, this time on the lips.

Dawn was absolutely shocked. She felt her knees begin to buckle, but she braced herself against Ash's body. She felt his soft lips caress her own, and an instant feeling of excitement and pleasure began to coarse through her body like one of Pikachu's Thunderbolt attacks. This tingly feeling was unlike anything the young teen had ever experienced in her life.

She gradually accepted Ash's affection and returned the kiss. Her _first_ kiss. She was standing on her tip-toes with her eyes closed, just like she had seen women do countless times in the movies.

Dawn felt her heart beating fast like a huge drum thumping hard inside her chest. She had waited years for this moment, almost ever since she'd first laid eyes on Ash. During their years of traveling together, she had secretly fantasized about kissing him on more than a few occasions, but she never thought it would actually happen.

She wrapped her arms around Ash's neck as the passionate embrace continued and intensified. Both teens' breathing started to get heavier, and Dawn let a slight moan of ecstasy escape her lips when she felt his tongue gently push its way into her mouth, massaging her own tongue softly.

Soon, Dawn's hands began to eagerly explore Ash's surprisingly muscular body. She felt his hard abs and chest, and eventually pushed him down onto the bed with her hands, landing on top of him while continuing to kiss him the entire time. Dawn was now straddling him, and she felt his warm hands run up and down her smooth, bare legs.

Dawn squealed happily when the two teens rolled over so that Ash was now pinning her down on the bed. She ran her fingers through his shaggy hair and felt the heat emanating from his scalp.

The boy's tongue danced seductively inside her mouth, and then back out in no particular pattern. Dawn copied him in doing this as she felt his hands rub against her breasts and torso before moving to her inner thigh.

Ash pulled his face away from hers just long enough to hastily remove his tight black t-shirt. He then quickly returned to taste Dawn's sweet lips again. After a few moments, he again pulled away, this time to rip the girl's tank-top off of her, revealing her lacey, white bra and the toned and slender body beneath it.

Dawn hesitated slightly when she realized how fast things were going, not to mention the fact that both their mothers and their friends were (hopefully still) asleep nearby in the huge hotel suite. But she didn't really care at the moment.

The intense feeling of lust overpowered her better judgment, and she continued to allow Ash to quickly undress her. Soon the boy's jeans had been thrown onto the floor, as had Dawn's bra and silky pajama bottoms. The feeling of her body's bare skin rubbing against his further added to the euphoric feeling she felt running up and down her spine. Dawn gave him a thankful smile as well before closing her eyes again, letting her sense of touch completely take over.

She felt Ash pause from his position on top. Assuming that he had sensed how fast their were going as well and wanted to make sure it was okay for him to proceed, Dawn tried to pull him closer to her to indicate that she wanted to continue. But something strange happened next.

Dawn felt a sharp pain in her face, like something was pecking at her.

She ignored it initially, thinking Ash had just accidentally poked her with his nose. But it happened again, harder this time. Dawn heard Ash try to speak to her, but he didn't sound like himself. He didn't even sound human.

"Pip-lup? Pip-lup-pip!" she heard him say.

She finally opened her eyes to see what was going on, and gasped…

That was when Dawn awoke from her dream.

The fourteen-year-old opened her eyes--for real this time--to find herself alone in her hotel bed in the dark. There was no Ash, but her beloved pokemon, Piplup was standing over her, with a concerned look on his face.

"Pip?" The baby-penguin pokémon continued pecking at Dawn's face with his tiny beak, trying to wake the girl up.

Dawn was lying on her back in the bed with sweat dripping from her brow when she woke up. She had been clutching her pillow against her chest and in between her legs. This and all the girl's moaning while she was sleeping had apparently startled Piplup enough for it to feel the need to wake his trainer up.

"Damn," Dawn cursed under her breath when she realized it had all been just a dream.

She stroked Piplup's soft, feathery head and smiled warmly at the pokémon, despite the fact that he had interrupted perhaps the best dream of her life.

"Hey Piplup. Sorry if I woke you up," Dawn whispered to her pokémon.

Piplup was just glad Dawn wasn't hurt. He didn't know what to make of her tossing and turning while clutching that pillow like she had been doing. For all he knew, the girl was having a nightmare or was sick.

Dawn got out of bed and walked over to the sink. She filled a glass with cold water and guzzled it down like she hadn't had water in weeks. Her heart was still pounding hard.

She glanced over at the digital clock on the nightstand between the two beds. It was only a few minutes past midnight.

The girl surveyed the lavish suite as she returned back to her bed. Piplup had fallen back asleep as soon as he saw that Dawn was alright. She was relieved to see that no one else had awoken. She was about to climb back into bed when she stopped suddenly.

The same anguish she had been feeling in her dream about Ash and the kiss remained. But perhaps, she thought, she was overreacting.

She climbed back into bed, finally. She was still scared to death of ever discussing the matter with Ash and mortified by the idea of the kiss ruining their friendship. But as fatigue finally began to take control of Dawn and her eyelids began to grow heavy, she started to feel more at ease.

Just before the girl drifted off for the night, she concluded mentally that perhaps everything would be okay. After all, this week wasn't about her. It wasn't about worrying about defining exactly what kind of relationship she and Ash had or how he felt about her. No, this weekend was strictly about being here to support her friend in the biggest competition of his life.

The thought of Ash sleeping comfortably in his room at the Pokémon Center before his second battle tomorrow was comforting to Dawn. And with that, she was finally able to drift off.

* * *

"_Ash... please... wake up..." _

Ash Ketchum groggily opened his eyes when he heard a faint female voice calling his name out. The fact that he was coherent instantly shocked him since he had felt himself die just moments ago.

The boy slowly lifted his eyelids and gasped when he saw the brown-haired girl's pretty green eyes staring down at him with a look of shock. He was still lying in the grass just outside of the Sapphire Stadium's Pokémon Center.

"Oh thank god!" the trembling girl sobbed when she saw the boy open his eyes.

"Pikapi!" a small voice shrieked in disbelief from nearby. Pikachu nearly tackled the boy's face, lovingly licking his cheek.

Instantly, Ash felt something in his jeans pocket burning hot against his thigh. Right away, he knew what it was. It was the jewel-incrusted gold coin, glowing hot just like before.

Ash sat up and checked himself out. Again, he was shocked to find out that he felt no pain anywhere. There were no signs of injuries, no evidence of the devastating Hyperbeam attack he had just taken to the chest. The blood he had coughed up earlier was still on the front of his shirt and pants, but the boy felt perfectly fine now.

What in the world was going on here?

Pikachu leaped into Ash's lap and hugged the boy's arm. He lovingly stroked the furry mouse's head and smiled, but he was still in absolute awe over the fact that he was alive.

Ash was sure that he had died when the tentacruel's attack had struck him. He remembered feeling indescribable pain and seeing his life flash before his eyes before he lost consciousness.

And now he felt as though he had just woken up from a harmless little cat nap. It was like he had been risen from the dead.

As the burning sensation continued in his pants pocket, the boy realized that the coin had to have been responsible for his "resurrection." He reached his hand into his jeans pocket and felt the burning metal disc. What was this thing?

He decided to leave the coin in his pocket and worry about its apparent supernatural capabilities later. He was still in shock at the moment.

"Ash, are you okay!" the teen girl whimpered as she knelt down in front of Ash to check him out. Judging by the horrified look on her delicate face, she couldn't believe he was still alive either.

"Y-yeah... I think so," Ash whispered, still looking down in amazement at his uninjured body. "What happened to me, anyway?"

"That g-guy's tentacruel shot you with a Hyperbeam," the girl replied, still amazed that this kid had somehow survived a close-range attack like that. "It hit you straight on. There was a big explosion. You were bleeding a lot and you wouldn't respond when Pikachu tried shocking you. I... I was sure you were dead."

"Yeah... me too. I guess I got lucky," Ash said.

"Yeah... lucky... that must be it..." the girl muttered, although it was clear that she knew something crazy had just happened. She never took her big green eyes off Ash.

"Where did Zak go?" he replied quickly, wanting to change the subject. He tried to cling to hope that this girl wouldn't realize just how bizarre his survival was, but he knew she was a weirded out by it as he was.

Ash looked around the grassy and bushy area that flanked the concrete wall of the building. Both the brawny trainer and his tentacruel were nowhere to be seen.

"He ran off after he saw you bleeding on the ground," the girl said. "Thanks for saving me, by the way. He seemed really drunk... he wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. And before I knew it... he grabbed me."

"Don't mention it. I hate guys like that," Ash scowled.

"Pika!" Pikachu growled in agreement.

"Ash, you should report him," the girl urged. "He's obviously dangerous when he drinks. What if he hurts someone else?"

"And what am I supposed to say?" the boy asked as he remained seated on the grass. "'Excuse me, Officer Jenny... I know I don't have even a scratch on me, but I just thought I should let you know that Zak Seabrook just killed me with a full-powered Hyperbeam from close range."'

The girl said nothing in response to Ash confirming to her what she had thought: the boy _had_ died... and somehow he was alive now.

There was a one or two minute period of awkward silence before Ash finally spoke.

"So _now_ will you tell me your name?"

The girl chuckled a little at the fact that the two of them had witnessed such an unbelievable occurrence together despite not even knowing each other.

"I'm Alexis Moss," she said, extending her hand towards Ash to shake. "Most people call me Lexi."

"Hey, Lexi. Nice to meet you," the boy said. "What brings you to Sapphire City anyway? You sure didn't look to happy when we saw you in the garden earlier."

"Oh that..." Lexi said, looking embarrassed. "It's a long story, Ash."

"Well, I've got time. I think at least I deserve some sort of explanation," Ash replied. "I almost died here tonight."

"You _did_ die," she corrected him.

Ash just glared back at the girl without saying a word.

"Fine," she said. "I'll tell you. You're going to think I'm crazy though."

"Just try me."

The girl sighed and sat down on the grass next to Ash and stared up at still-breathtaking view of the supernova's colorful glow in the starry sky.

"Well you see, my older sister, Kim... she and I came here to Sapphire City four years ago to watch the last tournament."

"Whoa, so you saw Lance win?"

"Well... no, not exactly," the girl mumbled as she stared at the ground.

"What? Oh man! I remember watching the tournament on T.V. back then! Lance and his dragonite were so gr--"

"Pikapi!" Pikachu sensed the girl's sadness and scolded his trainer for interrupting her.

"Oh, sorry. Keep going, Lexi."

"Well, Kim is eight years older than I am. She's twenty-four and I'm sixteen. So growing up, we weren't always very close because of the difference in age. She was in college by the time I was ten."

The girl never lifted her head. She just continued to stare at the ground, but a slight smile formed on her face as she continued on about her sister.

"She went to school for bio-genetics. She graduated at the head of her class and she quickly became one of the brightest young minds in her field. She had all sorts of universities from around the world asking her to come study at their facilities."

"Wow! That's great!"

"Yeah..." Lexi nodded. "But with how in-demand her time was, it didn't exactly give us much time together to bond as sisters. She was always off at science conventions and different speaking engagements. She was a superstar, plain and simple... and she didn't have time to hang with her little sister anymore."

Ash was alarmed to see Lexi was starting to cry again. He awkwardly patted her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. He tried to think of something good to say, but the girl kept going before he had the chance.

"That's why I was so surprised when she asked me to go to the tournament with her," Lexi said, turning to Ash. "She had gotten tickets to like seven different tournament matches as a gift for speaking at some university. She said she felt bad that we hadn't hung out in so long, so she wanted me to come with her to Sapphire City to watch some great pokémon battles. So that's exactly what we did. We both love pokémon, so it was a perfect opportunity for the two of us to bond."

"So did you two decide to come back again this year?"

The girl's bottom lip quivered as she shook her head no.

"What's wrong?"

"After... after we left the stadium and got back to our motel on the last day of the tournament," the girl stuttered, fighting the urge to start sobbing, "I left the room at around 8PM to pick up some dinner for the both of us. W-when I g-g-got back to the room, the door had been ripped off its hinges and Kim was g-gone!"

"What? Did you go to the police?"

"Y-yes, of course. Kim's cell phone and purse were still in the motel room, but she had clearly been kidnapped. The motel staff said they hadn't seen or heard anything. They searched for her for months, but... but..."

"They never found her?" Ash asked quietly.

Lexi shook her head. "Nope. After all the time had passed, everyone just sort of assumed she was dead. We had been staying in a cheap motel on the bad side of town, so people figured some guy broke into her room, kidnapped her and eventually killed her because she was an innocent-looking, attractive young woman. Her body never turned up, but most people still thought she was probably gone for good."

"So nobody's ever heard from her since?"

The girl sniffled and wiped her red, puffy eyes, trying to compose herself in order to speak.

"N-no... not until a few weeks ago," Lexi said, with a slight look of hope on her face. "I had been trying like hell for months to find any leads on where she might be. I honestly was starting to lose hope, but then one day got a strange e-mail from someone who claimed to be Kim."

"Whoa, do you think it was really her?"

"It's hard to say for sure. The message was really weird, but it's the only shred of hope I've got."

"What did it say?"

"All it said was, 'Even I don't know where I am, but please don't stop looking for me.'"

"Whoa... that _is_ weird."

"Yeah," Lexi said. "Like I said, it doesn't even sound like her, but if there's even a slim chance that it was my sister who sent that e-mail, I owe it to her to keep searching."

"So did you tell the police about the e-mail?"

"No, I didn't even bother. The police closed this case months ago, and they won't reopen an investigation based on some anonymous email that doesn't even provide any real clues."

"So what brings you to Sapphire City then?" Ash asked, trying to sound as delicate as possible.

"Well, with the police being unwilling to keep up the search for Kim, I'm on my own now. And since I have absolutely no clues, I figured this was as good a place as any to start looking.

"Plus, that flower garden outside of the Pokémon Center," Lexi pointed in the direction of the place where Ash had first seen Lexi. "It was our favorite spot in the entire city. We would sit there and have picnic lunches everyday we were in town for the tournament four years ago. So I just thought I should come back here tonight to honor my big sister. Even if she can't be here with me, the memories of the fun we had at the last tournament will always be with me."

Finally Ash understood why Lexi had been crying when he first saw her. He felt sorry for the girl and how alone she must be feeling. He didn't have any siblings, but Ash thought about how hard it must be for her. He imagined what it would feel like if his mother or Pikachu had been taken from him like that. He shuddered at the very thought.

Pikachu interrupted the silence with a high-pitched yawning sound. Ash and the girl yawned as well.

"Well, I suppose it is getting late. We all could probably use some sleep."

"Yeah, it's probably time I headed back to my hotel. I'm staying at the Sapphire City Hotel. It was nice to meet you two."

"Well, that's kind of far to be walking at this time of night," Ash said bashfully. "Maybe you should... uh... stay here in my room tonight. You can take my bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

"No, no... that's sweet of you, Ash," the girl replied, her cheeks blushing slightly as well. "But I wouldn't want to impose. I just met you after all."

"It's up to you. If you don't feel comfortable, I understand. But it's late at night, and I don't think it's a good idea for you to walk by yourself all the way across town. You could just crash here, and tomorrow after my match, I can help you ask around about your sister. Maybe someone here in town was here four years ago and remembers seeing something."

"It sure is a long shot," Lexi said, sounding hopeless.

"Yeah, but like you said... it's worth a try. She's your sister," Ash said as he stood up from the grass and offered his hand to help the girl up.

"Pikachu!"

"All right, I guess you're right," Lexi said, standing up as well. "Thanks, Ash."

The two teens smiled at each other before heading back down the sidewalk along the building back towards the entrance with Pikachu scampering behind.

After they had left the area, however, a shadowy figure emerged from the bushes near where the boy had been struck by the Hyperbeam.

The shadow stepped out of the darkness of the night and into the moonlight.

He was a tall and angular looking fellow with fair skin and short bleach-blonde hair. The man wore all-black from boots to his long-sleeved shirt, the sort of attire that would be appropriate for nighttime stealth missions.

After checking to make sure Ash, Lexi and Pikachu had safetly returned inside the Pokémon Center, the strange man removed a black cell phone from his pocket and punched a few buttons before holding the device to his ear.

After a few seconds, the man spoke in a raspy voice with an amused tone.

"Boss? Yeah, you'll never guess what I just saw tonight..."

A pause.

"... I saw a kid come back from the dead."


	7. Chapter Six: The Ice Queen

Here's Chapter Six: PLEASE COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT!

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**CHAPTER SIX: THE ICE QUEEN**

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A tall and skinny man wearing a cleanly pressed black business suit reclined in his leather chair and kicked his feet up on his gorgeous mahogany desktop. His lavish underground office he was toiling in was nearly pitch-black aside from a few small candles scattered about the spacious area, which provided a soft ambient orange glow.

The man's face and features were still hidden by darkness until he removed a small hand-held lighter from his jacket pocket and flicked it in order to light a cigarette. The bright flame that emanated from the lighter revealed the man's face briefly as he held the device to the roll of tobacco he held in his mouth.

The man had dark, fierce-looking eyes which glowed orange in the fire's light. His boney, angular and normally intense face was unusually relaxed and satisfied as he sucked the tobacco smoke in and exhaled deeply. In addition, the fact that his master plan was only days away from commencing had the man in a particularly good mood. It was only a matter of time before he would have the respect and power he had worked so hard for.

But the man's time for patting himself on the back ended abruptly when his telephone earpiece began to ring in his ear. The fact that someone was calling so late at night irritated him.

He took a large drag of his cigarette and placed it in the ashtray on his desk before he clicked the 'answer' button.

"Yeah?" the man demanded, exhaling smoke at the same time.

"_Sir? Yeah... you'll never guess what I just saw tonight?"_

The man growled. Being bothered in the middle of the night was bad enough without having to play guessing games.

"What is it, Agent Cortez?"

As he listened to his agent on site in Sapphire City explain what he thought he had seen over the phone, the man grew angrier. He thought he had heard his subordinate say he's seen a kid die.

"What the hell are you babbling about, Cortez?" he growled into his earpiece as he sat up from his chair's reclining position. He wasn't pleased. He didn't have time for these sort of interruptions.

"_Yeah I know... I know it sounds weird, Boss. But I swear. I was in position near the stadium, and I saw this kid get into a fight outside the Pokémon Center with another guy and his tentacruel..."_

"Yeah? Why the hell should I care?"

"_This kid, I don't know... fifteen or sixteen years old,"_ Cortez repeated, sounding a bit out of breath. "_He and this other guy got into it outside the Pokémon Center. Before you know it, the older guy sends out his tentacruel and fires a full-powered Hyperbeam right at the kid."_

"So what? Cortez, unless you have something important to tell me, I'm hanging up! I'm too busy to deal with this bull shit!"

"_Boss, the Hyperbeam hit him head on, from like ten feet away! He was bleeding all over the place, and he went down... he died, Boss. I'm telling you, he died! He had to have. No human would have been able to survive that. But... then, a few minutes later, he wakes up like nothing happened! That kid died and came back to life!" _

Finally the agent's story seemed to have gotten the man's attention.

"Died and came back to life, you say?" he said curiously, his tone instantly different. "Interesting..."

"_Yes sir. It's crazy I know, but I told know how else to describe what this kid did."_

The man in the suit didn't answer. He remained silent, deep in thought as he again reclined back in his leather desk chair and stared at the ceiling. A kid who had died and then came back to life? A claim like that certainly sounded farfetched to say the least. And at first, the man was ready to dismiss it as silliness, but for whatever reason... he was curious.

"_Sir? Are you still there?"_

"This kid you saw," the man finally said, sounding oddly interested. "What did he look like?"

"_I don't know... ummm. Kind of tall, lanky kid... black shaggy hair, brown eyes... But that's not all. You'll never guess who he was with!" _

"Huh? Who?"

"_Professor Moss' younger sister."_

"What? Are you sure?"

"_Yeah, pretty sure. Brown hair, tall... ass like a peach. The two of them look so alike, it has to be her. She was outside with the kid when he got shot."_

"I wonder what she's doing there," the man replied, not sounding nearly as interested in the girl as he was with the boy who cheated death.

"_Sir, what if the girl knows something? What if Moss somehow warned her sister about us? She could be in town to try to stop the mission!" _

"Oh stop," the man chided his agent. "She doesn't know anything... and even if she did, what could some teenage girl do to stop us?"

"_Yeah, but what if Professor Moss-"_

"I've taken care of Professor Moss," the man interrupted sternly. "We won't have to worry about her telling _anyone_ about_anything_. And as for the apparent living-dead boy you say you saw, you must have been mistaken. No human could survive a close range Hyperbeam from a full-grown tentacruel. It must have been something else. Humans can't just come back from the dead."

"_Yeah... your probably right_," Cortez replied a bit dejectedly.

"Now, I want you and your men to maintain your position until morning. During the tournament tomorrow you'll be able to easily sneak inside the stadium and upload the virus to the security system without being seen. We'll need your team to do that before we can proceed."

"_Yes sir_," the agent said again. "_Sorry to bother you at such a late hour, Boss. I'll let you know tomorrow when I've uploaded the virus. It shouldn't be any problem."_

"Good, see to it that it isn't," the man said. He lifted his hand towards his ear to end the phone call, but paused.

"Cortez, one more thing..."

"_What is it, Boss?" _

"That boy you saw with Moss' sister," the man said. "Did you happen catch his name?"

"_No, sorry sir. I wasn't close enough to hear,_" the agent said nervously. "_Why? Do you think you might know him? I think he's competing in the tournament. I saw the two of them walk back into the Pokémon Center together. Do you want me to find out who he is?"_

"No... no, don't worry about it..." the boss's voice trailed off. "I was just curious..."

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_****THE NEXT DAY****_

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The mid-afternoon sun was out in full-force, and once again there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The huge Sapphire City Stadium was again packed to capacity for Ash's second match against the seductive and talented Miss Lacey, the twenty-two-year-old Elite Four member from Hoenn... or The Ice Queen, as she was often called by her fans.

Ash had woken up earlier in that morning from a tough night's sleep curled up uncomfortably in the small recliner chair in the corner of his guestroom to find that Lexi, the pretty green-eyed girl whom he had met the night before and invited to sleep over, had left early without saying goodbye.

He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he had seen his empty bed, but he shrugged it off. He felt bad that the girl had lost her older sister, but perhaps this was one of those times that he didn't have to try to be the hero. Lexi obviously wanted to handle things on her own. Plus, he had plenty to worry about already... namely trying to win his second match of the tournament.

As the fifteen-year-old gazed up at the enormous crowd of people surrounding him, the boy realized that everything about this match seemed completely opposite of his previous battle against Hart.

He had left his trusty gold coin back at the Pokémon Center. After what had happened last night, Ash came to the conclusion that the coin was not just some good luck charm or toy... It was something much more. He had no idea what to make of it, and frankly, he was a bit frightened to be holding an object with such immense power. So in the end, he decided that he would go without a good luck charm this time around.

The thunderous noise from the spectators' cheers shook the ground Ash stood on. The boy felt the thousands of pairs of eyes all staring at him from every direction. It was a suffocating feeling. His legs started to shake and feel weak. His heart was pounding.

He could tell right away by how nervous he now felt, that it _had_ been the strange metal coin that had somehow given him so much confidence in his last match. This fact in itself made Ash even more petrified because without the coin this time around, he wasn't at all sure whether or not he would put up much of a fight against someone like Lacey.

Lacey, who had already made quick work of Zak Seabrook the day before, was looking to solidify her place in the next round with a victory over the youngster from Pallet Town.

The stunningly beautiful young woman stood on the opposite end of the field as Ash and Pikachu, looking ravishing in the bright sunlight as she clutched her first pokéball in her freshly pedicured hand.

Even from across the way, Ash could tell exactly why Miss Lacey had such an incredible following of fans. She stood elegantly atop her white four-inch high heels. Her super short, skin-tight dress matched the color of her shoes and accentuated all of her voluptuous curves. Her ample breasts nearly spilled out through the plunging neckline. The woman's long, shiny blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders beautifully, and her bright blue eyes were staring back at Ash as the match was about to start.

"_Let the battle begin!"_ the boy heard the referee's booming voice over the stadium's loud speakers.

"All right, let's do this! Just like yesterday, Jynx!" Lacey shouted and gracefully tossed her pokéball towards midfield.

A bulky, humanoid-pokémon with long white hair emerged from its ball with a bright flash and appeared on the field. It too was wearing what looked like a dress, which looked similar to its trainer's except for Jynx's dress was far less provocative. The ice-type's deep purple face looked intense as she bellowed out her unique deep-voiced cry.

"Jynnnnnnx!"

Unlike yesterday, Ash was completely ill-prepared. With all the excitement in the terrace outside the Pokémon Center last night, he hadn't had a chance to do any research about Lacey's battle style. All he knew was that her ice-type pokémon were incredibly powerful, enough so that she had been able to defeat Zak three straight in her first battle.

"Alright, I choose you… Torkoal!" Ash yelled timidly as he threw his ball, and his sleepy-eyed friend with its coal-black shell materialized.

"Tooor-Kooohl!" the fiery reptilian pokémon roared as it shot clouds of white smoke from its nostrils.

The announcer identified each trainer's selection for the crowd, and the battle began with Ash making the first move.

"Alright, Torkoal… Let's start off with a Flare Blitz attack!"

The glowing red spots on Torkoal's rock-hard shell began to intensify in brightness, and its copper-brown skin began to change to a vivid neon-red. Its entire body became engulfed in a huge, raging red inferno, and the flaming pokémon started to charge at Lacey's jynx at full speed.

"Watch out, Jynx! Don't let it get you!" Lacey shouted over the crowd noise.

The wide-bodied Jynx tried to side-step the charging fire-type, but Torkoal managed to clip the side of Jynx's body with its blazing headbutt. The smoldering attack singed its skin and the ice-type howled in pain. Ash's attack definitely could have done more damage than it did, but the type advantage that Torkoal held was made evident.

After wincing for a few seconds, Jynx popped right back up.

"All right, hang in there! Just concentrate on defense!" The Ice Queen yelled out encouragement to her pokémon. "Now… Let's give them a 'Mean Look!'"

Jynx's wide eyes started to glow and fixed their gaze right on Torkoal who didn't have time to look away. The entrancing glare did its damage, affixing Torkoal with a dark, arresting look.

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"Uh-oh, that's Mean Look… now Ash can't recall Torkoal!" May said with concern from her seat in the stands.

"There's no need to worry. Ash and Torkoal have the type advantage. They should have no trouble taking down an ice-type." Dawn said in her familiar optimistic tone.

"Yeah, but Miss Lacey's an Elite Four trainer. So type advantage alone won't be enough for Ash to win…" Brock said knowingly before a comically-goofy grin suddenly spread across his face and drool started dripping from his open mouth as he stood up from his seat.

"… Plus, she's gooooorgeous! Aaaaaah! Do you think she has a boyfriend? Oooooooh… I think I'll walk down there for a closer lo- OUCH! Oooooow!"

"That's my cue!" Max smiled and yanked Brock's ear hard from his seat to Brock's left. The nineteen-year-old was slammed back into his seat by the younger boy. He screamed and rubbed his ear in agony.

"How's _that_ for old time's sake!" Max quipped.

Delia and Johanna just chuckled at the teens from their neighboring seats without looking over. They were too busy watching Torkoal and Jynx exchange violent attacks down on the field.

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"It will take more than a nasty glare to beat us, Torkoal!" Ash yelled, pointing across the field with an outstretched arm. "Use your Flamethrower on Jynx!"

"Tooooooooor-KOOOL!" The coal-pokémon took a deep breath and then shot a huge, scorching orange flame from its open mouth which hurdled towards Jynx on the opposite side of the field.

"Dodge that fire, Jynx! And then use Perish Song!" Lacey said with a smirk which showed that she clearly had a plan.

Jynx just barely ducked underneath the Flamethrower which flew past both it and and Lacey. It exploded against the far wall that separated the field from the stands. The stadium 'oohed' and 'aahed' at the power of the fire-attack as pieces of charred debris flew everywhere upon impact.

Jynx then opened its 'O'-shaped mouth as wide as it could and began to sing… if one could even call it singing. It was more of a high-pitched noise that was excruciating to listen to, like a tornado siren. Ash and most people in the stands covered their ears with their hands when the sound waves reached them.

As soon as the shrill song ended, Ash searched his pocket for his Pokédex. He typed in, 'perish song,' on the tiny keypad on his handheld in order to learn about the move Lacey had just made.

"_Perish Song…"_ the computerized voice said. "_... A highly powerful, normal-type move. All pokémon who hear this deadly song will be knocked out permanently from the battle after three moves, unless it is switched out of the battle."_

"Oh no!" Ash realized what his opponent had done.

By using Mean Look on Torkoal the turn before, Lacey had prevented Ash from protecting Torkoal from Perish Song. The boy's pokémon would faint after three moves because it couldn't be recalled… but Jynx could, and therefore it would be safe from the Perish Song.

Ash didn't understand the science behind a timed attack like Perish Song, but he knew it was bad news for him nonetheless.

"Jynx… return. No sense in _both_ of our pokémon being knocked out by the attack," Lacey said, smiling sweetly at Ash from across the way.

Jynx returned safely to its pokéball, and the sultry Elite Four master immediately threw out a new one.

"All right, your turn, Glaceon! This shouldn't take long!" she said, referring to the short time Torkoal had before it would faint.

The ice-type 'Eveelution' appeared on the field and it growled fiercely in Ash and Torkoal's direction.

The fifteen-year-old recognized it instantly as the same pokémon May had introduced to him a few years back during his Sinnoh Region journey. Although, Miss Lacey's Glaceon was a lot bigger and looked a lot stronger than May's, he thought.

Ash didn't have time to think about the past for long, however, as his nervousness began to set in when he remembered that he didn't have much time before Torkoal would be out of the match. He had to make the time he did have count.

The boy felt the sweat on his brow begin to collect on the inside of his hat. Amongst the resounding crowd noise, he heard the voices in his head of all who had doubted him and his abilities during his life. That same doubt began to creep into Ash's head, compounded by the fact that his initial victory in the tournament had been nothing but pure luck caused by his mysterious gift, which he had left in his dresser drawer back at the Pokémon Center.

The boy eventually became frozen with fear and could only watch as Lacey's icy-blue colored pokémon struck Torkoal with a head-butt and started viciously clawing at it, displaying its incredible speed and quickness. Ash's pokémon was trying its best to defend itself and strike back when it could, but unless he came up with an idea fast, Torkoal would soon be done for.

The feeling of panic and self-doubt that Ash had felt before the tournament had returned in full force. The roaring crowd all around him seemed even more intimidating, like a tidal wave threatening to swallow him up from above and drown him. All Ash could focus on were the many staring eyes all fixed upon him from the stands... all the critics and naysayers, all the people who still expected him to fail.

Suddenly, Ash felt something tugging at his pant leg. It was Pikachu, who was still standing right by the boy's side.

"Pikapi."

"Huh?"

Pikachu pointed up to the stands when it had gotten Ash's attention. The boy looked to where his best friend was pointing with its furry outstretched arm, and saw May, Max, Dawn, Brock, Johanna and his mother sitting there a few rows up with warm smiles on their faces.

At that moment, Ash remembered all the nice things they all had said last night in his room. He remembered what Professor Oak had said as well.

"… _When you go out there tomorrow against Miss Lacey, all the pressure is on her… You really have nothing to lose! You can just go out there and battle like it's any other battle…"_

Somehow, seeing his friends' smiling faces from afar and remembering their encouragement calmed Ash's nerves considerably.

Suddenly the task at hand- trying to defeat one of the world's top trainers in front of millions of people- didn't seem as scary as before. Professor Oak was right. This _was_ just another battle. He had absolutely nothing to lose. Despite his opening match victory, the entire world expected Lacey to destroy him. What an opportunity to prove the world wrong!

His attitude had been all wrong. He wasn't under any pressure to prove that his opening round victory wasn't a fluke... it_was_ in a way. But that didn't matter. What mattered was that he was here... finally, after years of training, battling in front of the people he loved most.

Ash felt like the weight of the entire world had just been lifted from his shoulders. His heartbeat steadied and a smile returned to his face. And with his confidence back, the light bulb went on in Ash's head. He had an idea.

"Alright, Torkoal, we don't have much time! Just stand there! Try to avoid Glaceon as best you can!"

A confused look appeared on Lacey's face, not to mention almost everyone in the entire stadium. Ash had only a short time left to try to defeat Glaceon before Perish Song would knock Torkoal out. Why wasn't he attacking?

"Glaceon, just keep attacking! If the kid just wants to give up and let us knock his pokémon out, that's fine with us!" Ash heard Lacey shout from her end of the field.

Glaceon obliged and continued to scratch and claw at Torkoal's leathery skin, but also seemed confused as to what was going on. The fire-type pokémon did its best to avoid Glaceon's swipes until, finally, its trainer called out a command.

"Now! Use Smokescreen, Torkoal! Blow smoke over the entire field!"

Ash's pokémon did as it was told and began to shoot thick, billowing clouds of opaque, white smoke which quickly spread all across the field. Soon visibility was next to nothing. Ash could barely see his hand waving in front of his face, but it was exactly what he wanted.

"_It appears as if Ketchum's Torkoal has covered the entire field with smoke!"_ the announcer shouted. "_An odd move indeed… Smokescreen won't do any damage to Glaceon, and Ketchum's Torkoal will be knocked out of battle as soon as it makes one more move!"_

The crowd started to boo, they'd paid a lot of money for these tickets, and they wanted to be able to see the action on the field. They didn't appreciate the kid's choice of attacks one bit.

But Ash didn't care about the crowd; in fact, he removed any thoughts or worries about the many thousands of fans from his mind. He was completely focused on winning the match now.

Lacey yelled out through the smoke, "Glaceon, be careful! Try to figure out where Torkoal is!"

The four-legged ice-type meandered through the smoke as best it could, but it couldn't locate its opponent.

The female trainer was cautious but not worried. She didn't want Glaceon to do anything too risky because Torkoal would be a goner after just one more attack. But the problem was that with all of this smoke, Torkoal could be anywhere.

Ash waited. He had to make sure Glaceon got close enough to Torkoal for his plan to work. Ash still couldn't see anything through the clouds, but eventually he sensed the time was right.

"Now Torkoal! Use Explosion!" Ash shouted, hoping that his timing was correct.

The crowd gasped when they saw a red glow appear like a beacon through the fog and gradually grow in intensity. A gigantic, fiery explosion ensued with a deafening boom, the force of which blew the white smoke away and up into the atmosphere.

When the dust settled, everyone watching was shocked when they saw what had happened.

Torkoal was laying unconscious close to midfield- as was expected as a result of Jynx's Perish Song- but everyone gasped when it was revealed that Glaceon had _also_ been knocked out!

Ash had used Smokescreen in order to allow Torkoal to get close enough to Glaceon to use Explosion, an extremely powerful attack that had caused both pokémon to be knocked out! Ash had made the best of the sticky situation and had taken down Lacey's first pokémon along with his own.

The crowd applauded Ash's strategy to avoid an early deficit.

"_What a move by Ketchum! Torkoal's Explosion has taken out Glaceon! We're still tied, with each trainer having two Pokemon left!"_

"Good job, Torkoal! Return and rest up," Ash commended his fallen friend as he returned it to its ball.

Lacey did the same with her fainted Galceon and quickly sent Jynx back onto the field.

She didn't look happy that Ash had managed to outsmart her in order to even up the match. She had thought her Mean Look and Perish Song combo would give her the early lead, but obviously it hadn't worked out that way.

"Okay, you're up next, Infernape… I choose you!"

Ash's coinless confidence was flowing freely now. His Infernape- whom Ash had adopted long ago as a little Chimchar- appeared on the field beating its chest, looking fully grown and ready to roll. The raging orange flame on top of its head burned strong as it cried out excitedly. Ash could see the fire in its eyes. Infernape was ready to fight.

"Okay buddy, let's start 'er off with a Flame Wheel!" Ash commanded. Infernape fired the attack across midfield towards Jynx.

Lacey's pokémon took the spinning orange ball of fire head on and fell to the ground. Its long, flowing hair had been burnt, as had its face.

"Get up, Jynx!" the woman pleaded from her end of the field. From the look on her face, she was certainly surprised at how good this young teen was... much better than she had initially thought.

Ash didn't hesitate. Once he saw Lacey's pokémon hit the ground, he commanded Infernape to charge towards Jynx and attack it while it was down.

The extremely agile, primate-pokémon sprinted towards the fallen Jynx and took several powerful swipes at it with its lightning-fast fists of fury. Its arms were a red and blue blur as it relentlessly punched its icy opponent squarely in the face several dozen times.

The embattled ice creature tried to fight back from on the ground, but it was no match for Infernape in terms of hand-to-hand combat.

"Jynx!" Miss Lacey screamed, realizing she had to do something to prevent Infernape from continuing to beat her pokémon senseless. "Quickly, use Psybeam!"

The beaten and bruised Jynx somehow mustered up enough energy to perform the attack. Its eyes began to glow a bright pink color and waves of psychic energy started to radiate from them.

Almost instantly, Infernape stopped attacking and grabbed its head in agony. Being a part-fighting type, it was extremely susceptible to Jynx's psychic attack which caused it to drop to its knees.

"Now, use Blizzard on the entire field!"

Thanks to the opening the Psybeam had created, Jynx returned to its feet and shot a powerful icy wind from its mouth which it aimed like a fire extinguisher at the field. Gigantic drifts of white snow and ice soon covered the entire field, and the surrounding air temperature dropped considerably.

Ash could see his breath from where he stood, and the sweat from his hair had frozen, making his black locks stiff to the touch. He shivered from the cold, but he was more concerned about his pokémon.

Infernape was standing knee-deep in snow, and its extremely high body temperature was quickly melting it all around him. The resulting puddle of water that Ash's fire-type was now standing in had obviously weakened it.

The normally swift primate's speed was all but negated because anywhere it moved to on the field, there was slush and water surrounding it.

"Hang in there, Infernape!" Ash yelled. "Let's try Overheat!"

Infernape jumped high into the air and above the lake of icy water on the field. Its eyes burned blood-red and it screamed like a maniac as it uncorked a devastating beam of fire which sped towards Jynx with a loud whoosh sound.

Almost instantly, the radiant heat from the attack melted the remaining snow and ice on the field, leaving Jynx about waist-high in blue water.

Lacey cringed. She had planned for the ice on the field to give her an advantage because Jynx, an ice-type, would be able to scoot around pretty fast on its slippery surface like a figure skater. But now that the entire field was liquid water, Jynx was stuck. It would be like trying to run in a swimming pool.

"Infernape! Quick! Another Overheat attack!" Ash shouted before Lacey could react.

Infernape fired another vicious attack across the field towards its opponent.

The powerful fire-attack hit its target, and the surrounding water splashed up into the air upon impact. The searing heat from attack evaporated the water almost instantly with a loud sizzle, like water droplets falling into a scalding frying pan.

Jynx was lying face-down on the field, blackened and smoking from Infernape's attack. By the time th fire-type landed on its feet, all the water on the field had disappeared, as had Jynx's chance of winning.

"_Jynx is unable to battle! Infernape is the victor. Miss Lacey has just one pokémon remaining!"_

"Yessss! Great job Infernape!" Ash hollered and pumped his fists. "Way to hang in there!"

Ash felt the excitement beginning to boil inside him. He was just one victory away from beating the great Ice Master, Lacey on his own, with no help from supernatural forces... or whatever that coin was.

But Ash knew he had to compose himself; he hadn't won yet. He still needed to defeat Lacey's final pokémon…

"Nothing to worry about... Walrein! It's your turn!" He heard her yell as a giant, blubbery blue beast with two enormous tusks appeared on the field.

"Waaaaaaaaaallll!" The enormous walrein grunted and focused its attention on Infernape.

"Whoa," Ash said to himself, impressed by the monster's sheer size.

Infernape remained on the field in front of Ash, looking tired but ready to battle. Its white, furry chest was heaving in and out from fatigue, but the look in its eyes told Ash that it wanted to continue despite the fact that it would be facing a part-water type.

"All right Infernape, be careful! Watch out for water attacks!" Ash commanded from his post.

Infernape blitzed the larger blue pokémon and reached back for a powerful Focus Punch, but a shocked look overcame Infernape as soon as its clenched fist made contact with Walrein.

The blubbery blue body of Walrein rippled like jelly as soon as Infernape punched it, but all the fat seemed to absorb the impact of the punch. It was almost totally unaffected.

"Walrein, extinguish that fire with a Water Gun!" Lacey calmly commanded when she saw Infernape's attack fail.

The rotund, blue pokémon opened its wide mouth and a huge jet of water shot out with the power of a hundred fire-hoses. The water hit Infernape at point-blank range after it had failed on its Focus Punch attempt.

Ash's pokémon flew backwards from the impact and crashed hard against the field's outer wall. Infernape moaned in pain as soon as it collided with the wall and fell to the ground.

"_Infernape is unable to battle! Walrein is the winner! Both trainers are now down to their final pokémon!"_

Ash returned Infernape to its pokeball and commended it on a job well done as the trainer always did with his pokémon. But the boy's calm demeanor never left his face.

"Pikachu," Ash said simply. "Go."

The tiny electric Pokemon eagerly ran out onto the field, and the deciding showdown began.

Pikachu had been waiting for a long time to battle in this tournament, and he looked determined to win this match for his human friend. His black beady eyes were totally focused on Walrein.

Ash looked across the way at Lacey. She also looked calm. Perhaps seeing such a tiny pokémon run onto the field gave her confidence despite Pikachu's type advantage.

Under the Ice-Master's command, Walrein opened the match with several powerful Aurora Beams, which it fired from its open jaws down at the tiny scurrying rodent.

But the powerful energy beams weren't fast enough to hit Ash's trusty Pikachu, who was bolting around the field with almost blinding speed. Each Aurora Beam barely missed the yellow blur, further destroying the field in the process, tossing bits of concrete and dust into the air.

"_Wow, Ketchum's pikachu is displaying some incredible quickness as it evades Walrein's attacks!"_

"Pikachu, keep it up, buddy!" he shouted encouragement to his friend.

Pikachu's endurance was on full display as it continued to zip around in every direction like a pin ball, while Lacey's pokémon could only stand in place and attempt to fire attack after attack at the jittering electric mouse as he sped up and down the field.

After this continued on for a while, Ash glanced over at Lacey from across the field, and he was shocked at what he saw.

The famed Ice Queen had a furious look on her normally pleasant face. And the teen even thought he saw her sweating as she continued to shout out commands. She looked surprised and angry that some teenager and his measly little pikachu were giving her such problems.

"Walrein, another Aurora Beam..."

"Another!"

"... Grrrrrr! Again! Another one!"

Each attempt by Walrein seemed to get closer and closer to hitting Ash's lightning fast partner, but each time, it failed. And with each failed attempt, Lacey's anger increased while her composure decreased. The normally graceful and reserved woman was now scowling and cursing like a sailor with each botched attempt to put the match away.

Pikachu was definitely not as strong as Walrein in terms of raw power, but his speed was simply awesome.

He scooted around his larger opponent, dodging every attack while landing an occasional head butt here and an Iron Tail there. By no means were these devastating attacks, but it was clear that Pikachu was gradually chipping away at Walrein's health... and at Lacey's nerve.

Finally after a few more of Walrein's failed attempts, Ash knew it was time. No matter how fast Pikachu was, he wouldn't be able to keep it up forever. If he was going to win this battle, he would have to go all or nothing right now.

Without Ash even having to say anything, Pikachu knew it as well. The two life-long partners had been through so many battles and adventures together, it was almost as if they could read each other's minds.

As soon as Walrein blasted yet another failed Aurora Beam down towards the ground that Pikachu was running on, the yellow rodent leaped up high into the air, his jagged tail sticking straight up to provide balance. At the height of his leap, Pikachu shut his eyes tightly and mustered up all the strength he had in his tiny body.

"Pi.. kaaah... CHUUUU!

A dynamic yellow aura of electricity engulfed his entire airborne body, and a bolt of lightning shot directly towards the tired walrein, still sitting on the ground like a beached wailord.

The blistering hot attack heated up the surrounding air, and a booming-loud crackle of thunder resulted.

The devastating electrical attack flew towards Lacey's water-type pokémon directly with a blinding flash which swallowed up the entire stadium. The crowd was completely silent, apparently in shock at seeing how powerful a little mouse of that size was.

"Now's our chance! Use Endure!" Lacey screamed out at the last possible moment before the crackle of lightning struck her battler.

On command, Walrein shut its eyes tight and withstood the Thunderbolt attack, the painful electric energy coursing through its blubbery body. The ice-type was clearly experiencing excruciating pain, as all users of Endure do, and was noticeably wobbly on its feet after the attack had finished.

Pikachu landed on all-fours after firing his electric attack, looking equally as exhausted after exerting such incredible energy. The burnt-out rodent was huffing and puffing, struggling to retain his balance.

Ash couldn't believe it. What a move Lacey had pulled off... Endure, a move that in reference to its name, allows the pokémon who uses it to endure any finishing attack, preventing it from being knocked out. And the savvy ice trainer had used it at a perfect time... just before Ash and Pikachu had attempted their boom or bust attack.

The boy's heart sank. He had missed his chance. He knew what was going to happen next.

Pikachu was barely able stand by now, all his energy spent on his final Thunderbolt.

"Finish this, Walrein," Lacey commanded with a satisfied grin. "One last Aurora Beam!"

Its wide snout and hairy clump of blue whiskers were blackened from the heat of Pikachu's Thunderbolt, but Walrein used its last bit of power to obey its trainer. A rainbow-colored beam of light flew towards the debilitated Pikachu; it wasn't a full-powered attack, but it was all that Walrein could muster... and it would surely be enough.

"No!"

With a sizable explosion, the beam of energy struck Pikachu, sending the tiny creature flying through the air. Ash watched as if it was slow motion as his little buddy crash landed to the ground with a thud.

Ash's shoulders sank. He dropped to his knees. He didn't even have to look at Pikachu to know that he wasn't getting up. Staring straight down at the ground, the words from the referee felt like a punch to the gut as they boomed over the loudspeaker.

"_Pikachu is unable to battle, Walrein wins! The Green Trainer, Miss Lacey has won the match!"_

_

* * *

_

_

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_

Well, there's chapter six...

PLEASE COMMENT ON IT...FEEDBACK IS WHAT WILL MAKE THIS STORY BETTER!


	8. Chapter Seven: The Resurrection

**CHAPTER SEVEN: THE RESURRECTION**

(Please remember to comment after reading please!)

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* * *

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"Oh my! What an amazing battle!" Agatha exclaimed from her seat after the final decision was announced by the referee.

The elderly woman gazed down at the field and smiled warmly.

"Ash looks disappointed," she observed, "but he really shouldn't be. He fought hard and gave Miss Lacey quite a battle. He should be proud."

There was no response from the teenage girl in the seat next to Agatha. Everyone in attendance was still boisterously applauding the two competitors for the world-class battle they had just waged. The volume in the stadium was unreal.

Misty simply sat without saying a word as allowed the incredible moment to soak in. She felt like a kid again to be watching her friend chase his dreams on the battlefield. It definitely brought back a lot of memories.

While many of the male fans around her were cheering for and fawning over the scantily dressed Miss Lacey as she strutted off the field, Misty never took her eyes off of Ash.

It broke her heart to watch as he made his way towards the field level's exit tunnel back to the Pokémon Center. His head was down and his shoulders slumped. He was clearly disappointed to have been so close to defeating such an amazing trainer.

Despite the loss, however, the Cerulean gym leader was so proud of her friend and the way he and his pokémon had battled against one of the best trainers alive. Misty was speechless. All she could do was stare down at the now-empty field and smile. There was a joyous twinkle in her blue-green eyes.

"Uh… Misty? Are you all right, dear?" Agatha noticed that the girl she had met on the airplane wasn't responding. "Perhaps, you'd like to go down to the Pokémon Center and meet up with your friend? I'm sure he'll be very glad to see you!"

This caused Misty to snap out of her trance.

"Huh? Oh… right. Yeah, I should go and talk to him..." the girl's voice trailed off and sounded unmistakably nervous.

It was clear that she was very apprehensive about the idea of seeing Ash face-to-face after all the time that had passed since she had last spoken to him. And the fact that he wouldn't be in a very good mood after such a close loss didn't do anything to ease her nerves.

"Misty," Agatha placed her hand on the young girl's arm. "Don't worry! You came all this way to see him. Now's not the time to be scared."

_Easier said than done_, Misty thought to herself.

Still, the girl forced herself to stand up from her seat. She thanked the old woman for getting her into the match on such short notice, and also for being so kind to her on the airplane. The sixteen-year-old started to walk towards the aisle and make her way down to the stadium's Pokemon Center, but stopped and turned back to the elderly woman.

"Agatha? What about you? Where are you going to go?" Misty asked, feeling uneasy about just leaving the old woman on her own.

"Oh, don't you worry about me, Misty. I'm a big girl, I can handle myself. You just go and see your friend," Agatha urged and smiled as she shooed the girl away.

And while she was terrified to be doing so, Misty side stepped her way across the aisle and then down the stadium steps towards field level. Her mind was racing as she made her way in the direction of the adjoining Pokémon Center to where Ash Ketchum would be.

* * *

"Great job out there," Ash said genuinely to his pikachu as the two walked through the tunnel on their way back to the Pokémon Center.

"Pika..." the electric mouse sighed, looking ashamed that he had let his trainer down.

"Don't worry about it, Pikachu. We _almost_ won. We had her until the very end," the boy said comfortingly. "If I hadn't had you running around so much out there, you wouldn't have been so tired out at the end."

The teenage trainer was noticeably disappointed about losing. Losing always bothered Ash. But he held his head high knowing that they had come so close to upsetting one of the very best pokémon trainers on the planet. And as Ash remembered his mysterious gold coin sitting safely back in the nightstand drawer at the Pokémon Center, he took solace in that fact that he and his pokémon had battled valiantly... all by themselves.

"Pika. Pika."

"Yup, we still have one more battle. If we win tomorrow, we still have a chance at advancing to the second round," the boy said.

Suddenly, Ash and Pikachu stopped in their tracks when they reached the end of the tunnel. The two friends entered the Pokémon Center's lobby to the throng of reporters and photographers who were all waiting for them. All of the reporters shouted out their questions at once, and the cameras and flashbulbs were exploding at a chaotic rate, nearly blinding Ash and Pikachu in the process.

"_Mr. Ketchum! Mr. Ketchum! What went wrong out there?"_

__

"Ash, can we ask you a few questions about why you lost the match?"

_"Ash, Ash Ketchum? Over here! Just a few pictures, please!"_

Pikachu jumped onto his trainer's shoulder as the teen did his best to push his way through the media members, struggling to answer questions as he walked through the crowded lobby. It was utter chaos, and Ash certainly wasn't feeling like dealing with the media at the moment.

"_Mr. Ketchum, next you will face Zak Seabrook in your final first round match. He soundly defeated Ethan Hart earlier this morning, which means the winner of the match between you and Seabrook will most likely advance to Round Two, while the loser will be eliminated… What are your thoughts about the "do-or-die" match tomorrow?"_

The boy was somewhat shocked to hear that Zak had "soundly" defeated Ethan earlier that day. Hart was a world-renowned trainer whom Ash had obviously beaten already, but had done so with the aid of his 'good luck charm.' If Zak had beaten him easily, Ash knew he would have his work cut out for him tomorrow.

Ash stopped in the middle of the mob and responded carefully to the reporter's question. Dozens of microphones and voice recorders were being pushed into his face as he spoke.

"Well, from what I've heard, Zak is a fierce battler with strong pokémon, so I'll definitely have to show up tomorrow ready to do my best."

The reporter who had asked the previous question apparently wasn't convinced with Ash's relatively vanilla answer. He shoved his microphone closer to the boy's face as he continued to pry, trying to get him to say something more colorful.

"_A lot of people are already picking Seabrook to beat you tomorrow and advance on to the second round,"_ the reporter said in a slightly antagonistic tone. "_They are saying his incredible pokémon will be nearly impossible for an inexperienced trainer like yourself to defeat. Your thoughts?"_

Ash tried hard not to scowl at the reporter for asking such a loaded question. The teen swallowed hard and took a deep breath before responding, trying his best to remain calm and cool.

"Well, I think I have a great chance to win tomorrow. Anything can happen out there on the field. I'm sure his pokémon are tough, but we _both_ lost to Miss Lacey, so it should be a pretty even match-up between the two of us."

"HAH! You've got to be kidding me, Ketchum!" someone from behind Ash scoffed loudly.

Ash, Pikachu and the large mob of media members all turned around to see who it was.

The teen's mood worsened when he saw that it was Zak Seabrook himself. He had an amused smirk on his smug, tanned face. His brawny arms were folded in front of his chest, and he continued to laugh at what Ash had just told the reporter about the match-up between the two of them being equal.

"Ketchum, you're a bigger dumb-ass than I thought," Zak said, fully aware that the cameras and reporters were capturing the moment. "If you think you're even half as good as me, you're dreaming!"

Ash just glared at the man. He wasn't sure if the hulking brute even remembered anything about last night after how drunk he had been, but even if this guy hadn't have tried to rape Lexi and kill Ash outside the stadium, the man's arrogant and confrontational attitude was enough for the boy to want badly to defeat him tomorrow.

Pikachu growled and tiny yellow sparks began to spew from its cheeks when it recognized Zak from the night before.

What a piece of scum, Ash thought.

The cameras continued to flash like strobe-lights. The media were loving this confrontation. Zak's grin grew wider when he noticed that he had obviously gotten to Ash.

"You may think you're the man now because you _almost_ beat an Elite Four trainer," the jock said with a chuckle. "But the truth is, Ketchum, you got lucky that she didn't wipe the floor with you and those pathetic pokémon!"

"What are you talking about, you meat-head? What do you mean, I got lucky?"

The cameras shifted their focus back and forth between Ash and Zak as they continued to bicker, each trainer walking slowly closer towards one another by the second. The reporters were all holding their microphones close to the two trainers' faces, desperate to get this heated confrontation on tape.

"You mean to tell me that your so stupid that you didn't realize that Lacey wasn't even using her regular pokémon against you?" the man scoffed, as he ran his fingers through his bleach-tipped spiky hair.

"What?"

"Wow, don't you have a T.V. in that worthless little town of yours?" Zak berated. "Lacey's top three pokémon: Dewgong, Abomasnow, and Mamoswine... they're world famous! And all three were resting when she battled you! I had to battle all three of them! They were incredible... hell, they _had_ to be for her to beat me… So before you go and pat yourself on the back too hard for almost beating her, don't forget that you battled against Lacey's backups and _still_ lost! Hahaha..."

With that, Zak turned and began to strut across the lobby towards his room. As the burly man walked away, he shouted loud enough for Ash and the reporters to hear, "Tomorrow, Ketchum! I'm going to punish you and that puny Pikachu in front of the entire world! And _this_ time... I won't miss."

The mob of reporters hounded Ash again once Zak had left. They were looking for a response to what the man had said about Miss Lacey and her strategy of resting her top pokémon against Ash.

Pikachu seemed nervous from his spot on Ash's shoulder. He didn't like being surrounding by all these strange people like this. The aggressiveness of the journalists had certainly increased as they continued to push and shove to get close to the boy and his electric mouse, all shouting at once in their ears.

"_Ash, where does the bad blood between you and Zak Seabrook originate from?"_

__

"Does what Zak said give you any extra motivation for tomorrow?"

_"Do you think the match would have played out differently if Lacey would have used her regular pokémon?"  
_

Ash struggled to answer their questions about Zak and Miss Lacey, and sweat began to form on his brow from the pressure. Any good feelings he had gained from his narrow lost vanished upon hearing that he had lost to the woman's reserve pokémon.

Initially, the close loss to Lacey had given him hope because it taught him that he could compete here against these trainers without some supernatural good luck charm. But now, knowing that he had been defeated by his opponent's second-rate battlers, all his confidence was now shot.

The teen continued to stammer his way through the reporters' questioning.

"Uh… it's hard to say what would have happened. I mean… Miss Lacey _is_ a great trainer-" Ash stopped mid-sentence when something from across the lobby suddenly caught his eye.

All the way across the room, past the mob of people, near the hallway which led to Ash and the other trainers' rooms, he saw a strange person peeking around the corner. From the distance, the boy couldn't see who it was, but it looked like a girl. Her head was just barely peeking out from around a corner, and her one visible eye was looking straight at Ash.

"Excuse me one second," he said.

Ash started walking and attempted to push through the mob of media people. As he walked, he tried to get a clear view at the strange girl who was spying on him from the other side of the lobby, but large camera equipment and the sheer number of people crowded around him blocked her from his view. The reporters tried following him as he walked, but he politely yet firmly made it clear that he was done answering questions for the day.

Finally Ash cleared the crowd and began heading in the girl's direction. As soon as he made it obvious that he had noticed her, she got spooked. She quickly turned and ran away down the hallway before he could get a good look at her.

As she turned to run, Ash saw the fair-skinned and slender girl's medium-length, red hair flowing behind her, but not her face. He didn't know who this girl was or why she had been spying on him, but something about her seemed familiar.

He couldn't pinpoint it, but something inside of him told him that he should follow the girl, so he rushed across the lobby to chase after her.

Pikachu fell off of Ash's shoulder when the boy abruptly took off running, but quickly caught up and ran along side his trainer. The diminutive rodent didn't know what they were running for, but he scurried along anyway.

"Hey! Wait up!" Ash called out to the girl as the two of them sprinted down the winding hallway after her.

The boy and his pokémon weaved their way through the narrow hallways recklessly, barely avoiding strolling trainers and Pokémon Center employees as they rushed past. Ash could hear the mysterious girl's footsteps far ahead of them, but she was far out of sight.

Wow. This girl sure is fast, he thought to himself.

Suddenly, as Ash and Pikachu zoomed around a sharp corner...

* * *

_**WHAM!**_

_**

* * *

**_

Ash collided with a man wearing a gray suit who had been walking the opposite way, and both people crashed to the floor along with the briefcase that the man had been carrying. It burst open when it hit the ground and spilled its entire contents. Loose papers littered the hallway's carpeted floor along with pieces of computer equipment, a flash-drive and several glossy color photographs.

"Ouch! Sorry, sir," Ash said right away after the stars he was seeing began to dissipate.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, kid!" the man yelled angrily as he picked himself up and dusted himself off.

"Sorry..." the boy repeated, although his voice trailed off when something caught his eye.

Ash obviously felt bad for running into the man, and he was upset at losing the trail of that strange girl he had seen before, but for now, the boy's attention was entirely focused on the photos that had fallen out of the man's briefcase.

All of them were of the same pokémon, and all three photos seemed to have taken in a laboratory setting judging by all the complex-looking technology in the background. Without asking, Ash picked up one of the prints and gasped when he recognized who the pokémon was.

Memories from the past flashed through his mind when he saw the familiar humanoid creature with its many feline features and grayish-purple skin. The pokémon's most unique feature among many was its secondary spinal cord which connected the back of its skull to its spine.

"Mewtwo," Ash whispered to himself.

"Pika!" Pikachu recognized the pokémon as well.

The man looked nervous when he saw that Ash knew the pokémon in the photograph. He jumped up from where he had fallen and quickly collected the contents from his briefcase and stuffed them back in. He was careful to make sure that the silver computer flash-drive was unharmed and placed the tiny device safely in his pocket.

"Sorry kid," the man muttered. "I gotta get goin'"

He then ripped the photo of Mewtwo away from the boy and ran off down the hallway and out of sight.

Ash and Pikachu looked at each other with confused looks on their faces.

"I wonder why that guy had pictures of Mewtwo?" Ash said again as he began walking.

"Pikapi!"

The boy stopped and looked down at his pokémon who was pointing to something still lying on the carpeted floor. Pikachu scampered over to a shiny square object and carefully picked it up.

Ash bent down and took the object from Pikachu. It was a singular compact disc inside a protective plastic case, standard size with a handwritten label scribbled on the case's front side.

"_The M3 Project,_" was all that it said.

"The M3 Project? Weird," Ash said, continuing to study the CD. "That guy in the gray suit must have dropped this."

"Pika?"

"We sure have found some weird stuff sitting on the floor out here this week, huh? I don't know what we should do with this... That guy is long gone by now. He looked like he was in a hurry. I suppose we'll just drop this off at Nurse Joy's desk in case he comes back for it."

Ash turned and began to walk back in the direction of the lobby, but stopped when he thought about all the reporters and photographers they had just escaped minutes ago. He looked down at Pikachu, who was still standing on the floor beside him.

"Or... we could wait until later tonight when the media people go home," the boy suggested. "Right now, I think I could use a nap."

"Pikachu!" his little buddy agreed.

And with that, the boy nodded and Pikachu leaped onto his shoulder once again. Ash put the CD they had found in his backpack, and the two friends headed back to their guestroom. As they marched down long hallway, passing door after door, there was so much on Ash's mind.

He thought about what Zak Seabrook had said about Lacey resting her best pokémon against Ash. Any confidence he had gained in his close loss to the Ice Queen was instantly nullified by the realization that he had not faced her best team. And any doubts the boy had had about himself as a trainer were now reinforced in his mind.

Then there was the strange girl who looked as though she had been spying on him during his media interviews a few minutes ago. While he hadn't gotten a good look at her from far away, something about her had seemed familiar, but Ash couldn't put his finger on it. Why had she run away when he started to walk over to her? Who was she and how did she know him?

And now there was the man he had just run into, literally. Ash had only met Mewtwo once as far as he could remember, and that was years ago, but he found it extremely odd that just anyone would have photographs of the mysterious psychic pokémon.

Ash let out a deep sigh. What a day.

* * *

"Yes, sir. I'm sure it was him. It was the same kid I saw outside last night. I just ran into him inside the stadium Pokémon Center," the man in the gray suit said into his cell phone as he exited the lobby. "I checked the tournament media guide... his name's Ash Ketchum."

"_And you said he recognized the pokémon in the photos?_" an angry voice barked on the other line.

"I believe so. He knew its name."

"_Damn it, Cortez! What the hell is the wrong with you? How did you let him see the photos?"_

"It was an accident, sir! The little bastard came running around the corner and he smashed into me in the hallway. My briefcase fell open and all my shit fell out on the floor. That's when he saw them."

"_I wonder how this kid knows who Mewtwo is,"_ the voice in Cortez's ear said. "_There are only a few people in the world who even knew of its existence."_

"I don't know, sir, but it seems to me like this kid may pose something of a threat to our little mission here if we aren't careful," the man said with concern.

"_Then be more careful you idiot!_" the boss bellowed over the phone before composing himself. "_Look, everything should be fine. I trust you already uploaded the virus to the stadium's security system."_

"Yes, sir. With how crowded it is here, it was relatively easy for us to sneak in and infect the computer system. It's done."

"_Excellent. I'll alert our computer team... We now have control of the stadium's entire security system. Access codes, video surveillance, security officer communication, everything... We run the show now!"_

"Very good, boss."

"_Now that you've taken care of the first phase of the plan, it doesn't matter what the Ketchum kid knows or doesn't know. He'd be too late even if he did know anything. Just make sure you guys get out of the stadium without any trouble. Then report back here. I'll send a car to come pick up you and your men."_

"Will do," Cortez said as he walked out one of the Pokemon Center's front doors.

* * *

_*****MEANWHILE BACK AT THE MYSTERIOUS FOREST WAREHOUSE*****_

_**

* * *

**_

The slick-haired man pressed a button on his headset to end the phone call with his agent in Sapphire City. A crooked smile stretched across his normally stone-cold face.

The man had left his dark office and now stood in the equally dark, adjoining warehouse area before literally hundreds of people, both men and women, who had been called upon to assemble. He cleared his throat before he addressed his followers in the air-plane hangar-sized room from a small, wooden stage at the front of the room.

"LOYAL SOLDIERS, MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE!" he shouted loud enough for everyone in the cavernous room to hear.

Everyone in attendance stood at attention once the man began to speak, although none of them knew who this mysterious man was or why they had been summoned. They could not see the man's face at all as he was completely shrouded in darkness. His booming voice echoed loudly throughout the room.

The only light came from small torches which had been lit and were placed infrequently around the football-sized area. They cast an eerie orange glow throughout the entire area, dimly illuminating the hangar in an extremely creepy fashion.

"Five years ago, as many of you well know, the infamous Team Rocket was disbanded," the man continued. "Its highest-ranking officials… arrested and imprisoned. Its president and CEO… killed by police. And of course, its many loyal employees… left without answers or the many dollars that they had been promised."

The hundreds of people, many of whom had worked for an organized crime ring called Team Rocket years ago, began to murmur to themselves.

Team Rocket, during its existence, was infamous for its worldwide secret network of members who, together, managed to make millions of dollars through thievery, racketeering, and all sorts of illegal ways. For years, the organization flourished by promising its employees amazing riches in exchange for their promise to serve Team Rocket.

Those who were there remembered back to the day when the police finally infiltrated their secret headquarters five years ago in Kanto's Viridian City. That was when Team Rocket's president and CEO, Giovanni was shot and killed by police.

And that was it. Without strong leadership, Team Rocket died for good. The many soldiers and agents who were lucky enough to avoid prosecution were left to resume their normal lives.

That is, until they had each been contacted by this mysterious man and asked to show up tonight, here in the darkest depths of this thick forest.

"… You have been summoned here tonight because you have all displayed exemplary loyalty and hard work towards the former-Team Rocket's cause in the past," the man said and paused before continuing on.

"… Your dedication all those years ago did not go unnoticed. And tonight, I have called you all here to repay you by giving you an unbelievable opportunity to finish what you started."

The crowd simply stared back at the mysterious man blankly.

"It is true that Team Rocket, as you remember it, is dead," he said. "But tonight, I ask you all to follow me as your _new_ leader as we resurrect the organization from the ashes!"

There was a smattering of surprised whispers among the crowd, but for the most part, the former Team Rocket employees were skeptical to say the least.

"Team Rocket failed under Giovanni because money was its driving force," he kept going. "Petty thievery, useless scientific experiments, and all the rest of the amateurish money-making methods were a complete waste of time. He was filthy rich, but in our world, money does not equal absolute power."

"There's _nothing_ more powerful than money!" a random male voice from somewhere within the crowd shouted in an unimpressed tone.

The man, still completely masked by the darkness, just chuckled sinisterly at the individual's pessimistic attitude.

"I'm glad you said that," the man said creepily. "Would you please step forward, sir? I need a volunteer for this."

The former Rocket agent who had challenged the leader came forward, still not convinced that any of this was even serious. Was this guy seriously trying to resurrect Team Rocket? He stood in front of the leader, not knowing exactly what to expect.

"Now! Bring out my pokémon!" the man on stage yelled.

Upon his command, a giant cage constructed completely out of reinforced steel was rolled out onto the gymnasium-like floor of the warehouse. The cage's wheels squeaked loudly as eight or nine heavily-armored men pushed it across the concrete.

The hundreds of former agents gasped at what they saw inside the cage.

The humanoid creature standing probably eight or nine feet high behind the thick, metal bars screeched and roared ferociously, loud enough to cause everyone in the room to cover their ears and cower in fear. It had a long muscular tail, strong wiry arms, and an obviously aggressive nature.

The monster's most notable attribute was the extremely bright glowing orb on its chest. The jewel-like object was glowing with an intense red light.

A peculiar silvery-metal contraption with many wires and dials was fastened around the creature's head as well, like a mask. It shielded most of its face from view, except for its eyes, which were glowing the same red color as the jewel in its chest.

The beast bashed its armored head against the inside of the cage with incredible speed and power, trying to break its way out. The loud sound of metal crashing into metal made everyone in the room a bit uneasy, but luckily the bars barely held.

"_What the hell is that thing?  
"Holy shit! It's huge!"  
"Look at that! Is that a Pokemon?"_

The soldiers all yelled amongst themselves when they saw the sheer size and power of the beast being held captive.

"Let it out!" the man calmly commanded from across the floor. "Release my pet from its cage!"

Instantly, the hundreds of agents erupted in objection to the man's request. Many of them screamed and ran to the opposite corner of the warehouse, as far away from the cage as they could get.

"_Is this guy insane?"_

The soldier who had been chosen to volunteer remained standing near the cage, but was clearly terrified.

The several men who had wheeled the cage out unlocked its door and backed away quickly. The front side of the cage swung open and the bloodthirsty beast emerged. Each earth-shaking step it took with its muscular hind legs rattled the entire building's foundation and destroyed the floor. Again it roared, and its eyes continued to glow eerily in the dimly-lit room.

The remainder of the people had taken off running to the outermost edges of the room so that only the the ravenous monster and the single volunteer soldier were left in the center of the huge warehouse floor. The rest of them were cowering near the outer walls, watching and waiting for something to happen.

"All right, agent," the man in the shadows said calmly. "Do you have any pokémon on you?

"Y-y-yes, s-sir," he answered nervously. "I have my Charmeleon."

"Summon it. You and your Charmeleon will challenge my new pokémon."

The previously-defiant soldier's eyes grew wide with terror. He wished he would have kept his mouth shut before.

He called out his fire-type, and then he and the red-skinned reptilian fire-breather approached the enormous beast. He tried to keep from shaking in fear as he called out an attack.

"Charmeleon, use F-flamethrower on that th-thing!"

The strange-looking pokémon from the cage just stood in place and allowed the fire-attack to hit it. It was obvious to everyone in the room that the attack had done absolutely nothing.

The man on stage just laughed at the agent's failure.

"Now it's my turn," he shouted.

Suddenly the magnificent, bipedal pokémon began to roar again, and both the jewel in its chest and its flame-red eyes glowed even more brightly than before. It revealed its massive jaws and the dozens of sickle-like fangs that lined them as it wailed like a demon.

Once this happened, the man shouted out a command. "My precious, get rid of these weaklings!"

Upon command, the totally obedient monster opened its huge jaws and shot a devastatingly powerful red beam of energy towards both Charmeleon and its owner.

Everyone in the room gasped in awe when they saw the beam make contact with a deadly explosion. Instantly, the soldier's screams stopped. The ground where they stood was destroyed. Concrete shards, metal shrapnel and dust spewed everywhere.

Both the pokémon and human's bodies had completely disintegrated to dust. No blood. No skeletons. Nothing remained but a large crater in the floor.

Complete silence overtook the room. Everyone was speechless from seeing how much power the strange pokémon had.

The man on stage again laughed. He commanded the killer-pokémon to return to its cage. Its eyes glowed red again and it obeyed.

"Now, as you can see," the man shouted out, "there _are_ things more powerful in this world than money."

No one dared to say anything in return.

"And so now you have seen the centerpiece of Team Rocket's resurgence! With my brand new pokémon, we will be able to take what power we desire... by force! Now, who's with me?"

The hundreds of soldiers all shouted out in agreement. They felt they had no other choice.

"Good," the man gleefully shouted as he finally emerged from the shadows. "Let's get started right away. We only have a few days to get ready."

* * *

There's Chapter 7... PLEASE COMMENT, CRITICIZE, SUGGEST, etc.


	9. Chapter Eight: Do or Die!

_Here's Chapter 8 everyone! Please COMMENT! If you take the time to read this, please do me a favor and take an extra minute or two to post what you think about the chapter! Pretty please! It's the only way I can get better as an author. Any COMMENTS are appreciated._

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT: DO OR DIE!**

**

* * *

**

As the sun began to set on yet another beautiful Sapphire City day, Ash Ketchum sat solemnly on his freshly-made bed inside his guest room. He stared out the nearby window at the gorgeous orange and purple sky just thinking hard about how strange his life up to this point had been.

Ever since his pokémon journey began over five years ago, the youngster from Pallet Town always seemed to find himself in the middle of something extraordinary. Whether it was encountering mythical pokémon, traveling back in time, or in this case... becoming the proud new owner of some magical gold coin, the boy had certainly experienced enough unbelievable adventures to last three or four lifetimes.

He rarely thought about exactly how bizarre some of his adventures had been, but anyone who had never met him before would never in a million years believe some of the things Ash had been through. Sometimes, he himself didn't even believe them. Sometimes the memories of his extraordinary experiences seemed like a dream... like they just couldn't be real.

But as Ash looked down at the shiny gold coin with the five colorful gemstones fixed to its surface, the reality of this latest mystery set in. His thoughts shifted from the past to the present.

Aside from all the craziness of the past week, when he'd first received this strange gift and learned of its power, Ash was reminded why he was here in the first place: to become a Pokemon Master. It had been his goal ever since he was a little kid.

He thought about his third and possibly final match of champions league tournament, which was less than an hour away. In just a short while, he would be set to face his new rival in a match that would decide who would move on to the next round, and who would be sent home.

Ash scowled as he pictured the smug, musclebound jock in his undersized polo shirt with the collar turned up. He saw Zak's arrogant smirk and heard his overly-macho voice. He remembered finding the drunk scumbag forcing himself upon a teenage girl a few nights ago. He remembered how confident the man had sounded in the Pokémon Center lobby following the boy's last match. His brash nature, not to mention the way he treated people made Ash's blood boil.

He couldn't remember a time when he wanted to win as badly as he wanted to tonight. Ash wanted nothing more than to shut that loudmouth up and send him packing.

The boy continued to examine the coin, and while doing so, he realized that the key to victory tonight was right in his hand. He remembered the exhilarating feeling of confidence and power he had felt during his first match with Ethan Hart a few days ago, when he had carried the coin into battle with him.

After that first match, Ash had simply figured that his mystery gift had brought him a bit of innocent good luck, but after the incident in the terrace outside the Pokémon Center later that night, it was clear that this thing was anything but ordinary.

All he would have to do is put the golden chip in his pocket before he took the field tonight, and hopefully the coin's power would take care of the rest once again. The idea of an automatic victory against Zak started to sound better and better to Ash the more he thought about it. Remembering how excruciatingly painful yesterday's loss to Miss Lacey was, Ash didn't even want to think about how upset he would feel if he let that pompous jerk beat him tonight.

* * *

_**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!**_

_**

* * *

**_

Ash's pondering was interrupted by a soft knock on the front door. He got up off the bed and walked over to answer it, cupping his right hand around the coin so as to shield it from view.

"Pikapi!" the boy's pokémon cried out as he came bounding into the room when Ash opened the door.

"Hey Pikachu! You're back."

The mouse nodded and leaped up onto the teen's shoulder and greeted him by nuzzling up close to his trainer's face. Ash giggled and stroked the pokémon's fur.

A pretty young lady with shiny pink hair dressed in white nurse attire walked in after Pikachu with a warm smile on her face. She was carrying two pokéballs, one in each hand.

"Hi, Nurse Joy," Ash said with a grin. "Thanks for treating my pokémon. I just wanted to make sure they were well-rested before the match."

"No problem, Ash," the friendly woman replied as she handed the two pokéballs to the boy. "These three are all ready to go."

"Pika-Chu!" the cute little mouse flexed its tiny muscles in a comedic pose to show he was ready.

"Awesome! Pikachu sure looks pumped," Ash observed with a smile. He chuckled when he saw Pikachu's goofy gesture.

"Speaking of which, you should probably think about heading down to the field. Your match starts in about a half-hour."

"Right," the boy replied simply, his face instantly becoming more stoic when he remembered his pre-battle dilemma regarding the coin.

"Okay, Ash. I'll be at the front desk if you need anything else. Good luck tonight."

"Thanks again, Nurse."

Joy nodded politely before turning and exiting the guestroom.

When the door shut behind the woman, Ash returned to his seat on his bed. He again looked down to admire the gold coin in he held in his open palm, contemplating whether or not to take it with him tonight.

"Pikachu, what do you think?" he asked his friend, holding up the coin for his friend to see.

"Pi?" The electric mouse just stared blankly at the small metal disc, still not knowing exactly what it was or what his trainer was asking about.

Ash smiled at his lifelong partner. Seeing those big beady black eyes staring back at him made the boy think back to a simpler time in his life, when he and Pikachu had first left Pallet to start off on their own. Since then, the two of them had been through a countless number of battles together... and never once had they wanted or needed help from some magic object, or whatever that coin was.

Instantly, Ash began to reconsider using the coin tonight against Zak. If it really did have secret powers strong enough to help him to a sure victory, did he really want to use it and win that way? After what Zak did, Ash desperately wanted to see the man suffer a loss... but would it even matter if he did so by cheating? What sort of accomplishment would that be? What about all the hours... days... years of training he and his pokémon had done just to have an opportunity to compete in this tournament?

Ash wasn't so sure anymore. He heard the faint rumble of the stadium crowd beginning to assemble, and knew he had to come up with a decision fast.

* * *

The night sky was speckled with twinkling stars as well as the breath-taking sight of the once-in-a-lifetime Millennium Supernova, as it had been dubbed by the astronomy community.

Ash stood at his end of the concrete battlefield, completely ignoring the beautiful celestial phenomenon. He'd already heard it talked about endlessly on the news, and he'd seen it himself the other night. This wasn't the time for star-gazing.

Nothing- not the loud and boisterous murmur of the crowd, not the hundreds of television cameras, not the blinding stadium lights glaring down from above, and not the incredible pressure of the match- could have caused the young trainer's focus to waver. Unlike the previous battle, there were no nerves... only an intense desire to leave tonight's match as the victor.

He glared across the way at Zak Seabrook… that smug, arrogant, overgrown jerk. The man had that cocky grin on his chiseled face, and he was waving to the crowd and flexing his rippling muscles in a gratuitous act of showmanship.

Ash didn't even think about the fact that Miss Lacey had defeated Ethan Hart earlier in the day, and that the winner of this match between him and Zak would join her in the second round of the tournament. Right now, he didn't care about that in the slightest. He didn't need any added motivation to win.

This was personal.

Ash adjusted his navy blue baseball cap and looked over impatiently at the referee. When the uniformed man finally signaled the start of the match, the teen wasted no time summoning his first pokémon.

"Staraptor… Let's start off with an Aerial Ace!" Ash shouted with more passion and aggressiveness in his voice than usual.

Like a speeding bullet, the boy's gray-feathered flying-type shot up into the air. As it soared through the sky, it picked up speed until it was nothing but a blur. Staraptor zoomed towards Zak's first pokémon, Hitmonchan, and it began to fly circles around it.

The tan, human-shaped pokémon was obviously confounded by Staraptor's incredible speed. It tried its best to bat at the bird with its big, red boxing gloves, but hit nothing but air with its powerful swipes. After several missed attempts by Zak's hitmonchan, Staraptor completed its Aerial Ace attack by viciously slashing its opponent with its razor-like talons.

"Chaaaaaaaan!" the pokémon screamed in pain and fell backwards.

"Damn it, Hitmonchan! Don't let that weakling do that to you! Let's fry that bird with a Thunderpunch!"

Hitmonchan's right fist began to glow and spark as it reached back to throw a powerful punch at Staraptor, who had continued to swoop swiftly back and forth across the field like a laser beam.

"Staraptor, use Agility! Dodge that punch!" Ash commanded from his post, still with a stone-cold serious look on his face.

The teen's flying-type looked like a stealth bomber as it again picked up speed. It easily avoided Hitmonchan's Thunderpunch when it flew up into the air. After the electric attack sailed harmlessly into the atmosphere and dissipated, Staraptor swooped down upon the grounded pokémon and again slashed the fighting boxer across the face with its claws.

"What's wrong, Zak? Too fast for you?" Ash shouted over to the man in an antagonistic tone when he saw the anger on his face increase.

It was clear that Ash's strategy early on was to utilize Staraptor's flying ability to gain the edge over Hitmonchan, who was obviously limited to the ground.

"_And it appears as if the speed of Ketchum's staraptor is giving Seabrook's hitmonchan trouble early on!"_

Ash tried not to smile when he heard his opponent angrily shout from his end, "You coward! You don't even have the balls to fight me like a _real_ man, Ketchum! You have to resort to cheap shit like flying!"

The teen didn't want to give up on his current strategy, but hearing the man's challenge and his desire to shut Zak up got the better of him. Ash commanded Staraptor to fly down to the field and land.

"Staraptor, use Close Combat on Hitmonchan! If he wants a fight, we'll give him one!"

Zak's eyes lit up as he was surprised to see that Ash had deviated from his plan. "Hitmonchan, _you_ use Close Combat as well!"

Following their trainers' orders, the two pokémon rushed towards each other and engaged in relentless, close-range fisticuffs. Staraptor did its best to claw and peck at Hitmonchan, who countered with several powerful jabs and crosses of its own.

Even at point-blank range, Hitmonchan was having a hard time pin-pointing its strikes because of Staraptor's speed and agility. Zak knew he had to do something.

"Hitmonchan!" he bellowed finally. "Use Focus Blast on that thing!"

On command, the fighter's beady eyes began to glow bright neon-blue. It locked onto Staraptor who had again flown up high into the air to avoid the attack. But Zak's pokémon kept it squarely in its sights like a sniper locking onto its target from long-range.

"Now! Combine your Focus Blast with Sky Uppercut and knock that bird out of the air!" Zak commanded.

Hitmonchan expertly anticipated where Staraptor would swoop and fired a powerful Sky Uppercut beam into the air.

"_Wow, it looks like Hitmonchan has finally locked onto the speedy Staraptor using Focus Blast, and has managed to knock it out of the air! Great move by Seabrook!"_

The yellow beam of energy struck the streaking bird-pokémon head-on, and Ash gasped as he saw it crash to the ground.

"Staraptor! Are you okay?"

Its sleek and muscular wings looked heavily damaged and its feathers were ruffled, but it managed to get up slowly.

"Quickly, Hitmonchan! Another Thunderpunch!" Zak screamed wildly before Ash could react.

Hitmonchan sprinted toward the crippled pokémon and uncorked another high-voltage punch. This time, it connected squarely with Staraptor, and it let out a high-pitched shriek of agony as it was sent flying from the impact. The black and grey pokémon crash-landed in a heap around midfield. But this time, it would not get up.

"_Staraptor is unable to battle! Hitmonchan is the winner!"_ the referee's voice boomed over the loud speakers.

"Ha! Not so confident now, are you Ketchum?" the brawny tan-skinned man sneered.

Ash ignored his opponent's taunting. He returned his fallen friend to its pokéball and sent out his next pokémon without saying a word.

"Snoooor-Laaaaaaaax!" the new pokémon bellowed once it appeared on the field.

"_Ketchum's second pokémon will be a snorlax," _the announcer informed the crowd. "_Snorlax is one of the kid's most powerful and experienced pokémon…"_

Snorlax yawned. The large, big-bellied beast which Ash had captured years ago looked sleepy as usual, but it was ready to battle.

"Snorlax, just sit there! Let Hitmonchan make the first move!" the boy called out.

Zak cautiously obliged. He didn't know exactly what Ash had up his sleeve, but the muscle-bound man had little choice but to attack.

"Okay, Hitmonchan! Let's knock that sucker out!"

Zak's pokémon, who was visibly tired from having to deal with Staraptor, did its best to throw a punch towards Snorlax's buxom abdomen, but even a strong fighting-type like Hitmonchan was no match for the sheer girth and strength of one of Ash's most powerful pokémon. The strong jab that Hitmonchan threw at Snorlax only bounced off its fat belly like it was punching a wall of blubber.

Hitmonchan and Snorlax exchanged several blows back and forth. The quicker fighting-type was able to dodge many of the sluggish Snorlax's strikes, but when the sleepy pokémon did make contact, its mighty blows seemed to take a toll on Hitmonchan's health.

The crowd was loving the brutal battle between the two, and the fans could sense the intensity that each of the two pokémon were fighting with.

Snorlax absorbed each punch easily and eventually retaliated with a devastating Body Slam with its full body-weight behind it. The attack almost crushed Hitmonchan who was left lying on the ground, unconscious.

"_Hitmonchan is unable to battle, Snorlax is the winner!"_

"Good work, Hitmonchan," Zak commended after he had returned the pokémon to its ball. "Now! I'll fight size with size! Go…Hippowdon!"

Silas threw his second pokéball onto the field and Hippowdon, a large, hippo-like creature with brown-skin and a big, black snout appeared. Brown sand trickled out of the large ports located on the ground-type's dark-grey back and muzzle.

"Hippowdon! Let's try a Fissure attack!"

Hippowdon used its tree trunk-sized legs to slam down upon the ground with its enormous weight. A huge crack formed in the middle of the field and began to spread quickly towards where Snorlax was standing.

Ash's face remained emotionless even after he saw the impressive display of power.

The broad-shouldered man noticed this, but didn't realize why or how Ash could be so calm in the face of such a powerful attack. If Snorlax fell into the deep fissure, it was done for.

But Zak almost tore his bleached hair out and screamed in anger when he saw what happened next. The attack did crack open the ground right underneath Snorlax, but the huge, round pokémon was simply too big to fall through the narrow fissure. It's humungous size had saved Snorlax from being hurt by the attack.

"That Fissure attack won't work on my snorlax," Ash shouted. "Now, Snorlax! Let's show 'em another Body Slam!"

"Laaaaaaaaaaaax!" the pokémon roared as it flew remarkably fast towards Hippowdon, despite its considerable mass. The attack ended with Snorlax doing a belly flop right on top of Silas' Hippowdon, who grunted in pain and collapsed under the added weight.

"_Oh! What a powerful attack unleashed by Ketchum's Snorlax!"_

The two intimidatingly massive pokémon continued to duke it out like a pair of sumo wrestlers. There was little strategy being used as the two titans simply exchanged powerful blows back and forth. It was clear after a while, however, that Snorlax was beginning to get the best of Zak's hippowdon.

Zak gritted his teeth with rage. Even though he didn't want to admit it, this Ketchum kid and his pokémon were better than he had thought. The man knew he couldn't win this on brute strength alone. He needed a new strategy.

"Hippowdon!" Zak finally commanded "Let's put that sloth to sleep with Yawn!"

Hippowdon's gigantic jaws stretched wide open. The huge stadium crowd gasps when they saw the pokémon belch loudly. A large saliva bubble formed from its open mouth and began to float in the air towards Snorlax.

Before Ash could react, the bubble burst right in Snorlax's face. And after a few seconds, the effects of the attack began to set in and gravity carried Snorlax to the ground as it drifted off into a deep sleep. The huge beast's belly heaved up and down as it snored loudly.

"How do you like that, Ketchum?" Zak sounded extremely pleased with himself. "Now you can't attack!"

"Is that so?" Ash calmly shouted back. Then he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled even louder so that the sleeping Snorlax would be able to hear. "SNORLAX! USE SLEEP TALK!"

Somehow, despite being deep in slumber, the kid's command registered in Snorlax's brain. It stumbled to its feet and began to sleep-walk towards Hippowdon like a zombie.

Zak's gray eyes grew huge. How in the world could a sleeping pokémon attack?

The burly man didn't have time to ponder for long, however. He watched as the snoring Snorlax shot towards his battler like a wrecking ball before connecting with a powerful head butt right to Hippowdon's face.

The blow to the head was too much for ground-type, who hadn't expected its incapacitated opponent to be able to attack. Its legs wobbled and its eyes rolled back before it crashed to the ground in defeat.

"_Hippowdon is unable to battle! Snorlax is the winner! Zak Seabrook has only one pokémon remaining!"_

The crowd erupted when they saw Ash's attack. Only the most powerful pokémon were able to learn Sleep Talk, which Ash and his Snorlax had demonstrated perfectly.

"Great job!" Ash said, trying to remain calm. "Just one more pokémon to beat!"

His obese normal-type pokémon awoke just in time to face Zak's final fighter.

It was Tentacruel. The same pokémon whose wrath Ash had felt two nights ago. He knew beating it would be the biggest challenge of the match.

It was extremely powerful, as Ash had experienced first hand. The large, blue jellyfish-like creature promptly bombarded the groggy Snorlax with several powerful stings from its deadly, green tentacles. Snorlax did its best to fend off the poison attacks, but in the end, Tentacruel proved to be fresher than its tuckered out opponent.

"Finish it with Poison Jab attack!" Zak commanded when it saw that Ash's pokémon was breathing heavily from fatigue.

Ash could do nothing as he watched Snorlax take a vicious shot to the face from one of Tentacruel's tentacles. Stunned by the poisonous punch, the round monster eventually fell to the ground with such force that his massive body created a crater in the concrete.

"… _And now it all comes down to this, ladies and gentlemen…Tentacruel versus Pikachu. Zak Seabrook's intimidating and deadly poison-type fighting machine against Ash Ketchum's deceptively cute and cuddly electric mouse."_

Zak glared at the tiny Pikachu which had made its way onto the field. He looked down at his bandaged forearm, vaguely remembering that it had been that blasted rodent that had bitten him the other night. It was time to make both Ash and Pikachu pay.

"Alright, Tentacruel! Let's crush that mouse with Constrict!" Seabrook shouted quickly, eager to gain an early advantage.

Tentacruel zipped towards Pikachu and managed to capture the speedy electric-type with its many tangling, green tentacles. The diminutive electric-type didn't struggle even as Tentacruel began to tighten its grasp.

Ash again remained calm and just eyed the foolish man from across the field. He could barely stop himself from laughing at loud at the enormous blunder Zak had made while being too focused on hurting Pikachu.

The teen heard Zak tease from across the field, "Hey Ketchum, aren't you worried I'm going to squeeze the guts out of your little friend here?"

Ash didn't even answer. His eyes never left his adversary as he said calmly, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt."

The grin instantly disappeared from Zak's face.

The tiny rodent, which Tentacruel still had in its clutches like an Arbok suffocating its prey, began to spark before it shot a jolt of powerful electricity all throughout its opponent's body.

"Pi-Kaah-CHUUU!"

Tentacruel's grasp instantly released Pikachu, and its many tentacles began to wildly wiggle in pain from the shock. Its trainer clenched his fists so hard that his fingernails almost drew blood as they dug into his palms.

"Tentacruel! Let's slow that thing down with an Acid attack!" Zak barked, not willing to give up.

Pikachu tried to dodge Tentacruel's many spraying shots of thick, black goop which steamed and burned through the concrete field when it made contact. But eventually, one of the black gobs of acid struck Pikachu, and it squealed in pain as the poison seared through its fur and skin.

"Pikachu! You okay, bud?"

"Pi-Kah!"

The determined little pokémon nodded, although it was clear that the poison, which was now coursing through his bloodstream, was beginning to take effect. Pikachu's stumpy legs wobbled as it tried to continue to dart around the field. Its speed had definitely had diminished considerably.

"Ha! Now we got them, Tentacruel! Let's keep it up! Poison Jab!"

Several of the pokémon's long, slithering appendages began to glow a sickening purple color as they shot towards the crippled Pikachu, obviously looking to inflict more damage.

"Quick, Pikachu! Use Volt Tackle!"

Pikachu's entire body became engulfed in a powerful yellow aura as it sprinted directly towards Tentacruel's flying tentacles.

"Pikah-Pikah-Pikah-Pikah-Pikaaaaaaaaaah!" Pikachu mustered up all the energy it could as it increased its speed.

The poison jab attack struck the blazing yellow blur, but simply bounced harmlessly off of it when the attack came into contact with the high-voltage electricity. Pikachu continued to sprint until it reached Tentacruel and finished the attack with a strong head butt to the poison-type's body.

The Volt Tackle had even managed to put a crack in one of Tentacruel's shiny, red crystal spheres which were located on the top of its body.

The crowd applauded the effort from Pikachu, who was still visibly laboring following the acid attack. It was heavily panting and looked woozy.

"Hang in there, Buddy! You're doin' great!" Ash cheered his friend on.

The two pokémon continued to trade strikes back and forth. Pikachu more than made up for the poison it had endured with its incredible determination. It desperately wanted to win this battle for Ash.

Tension in the stadium was definitely building. It was clear that the match would end any second now. Both pokémon appeared on the verge of fainting, and the crowd was collectively on the end of their seats as they waited to see which fighter would prevail.

Zak again demonstrated extreme frustration. He and everyone in the stadium could plainly see that Pikachu didn't have much energy left, but for some reason he couldn't end the battle. Tentacruel looked frustrated as well.

"Tentacruel, it's time to finish this!" Zak finally shouted. "Use Hyperbeam! That puny Pikachu is too weak to dodge it!"

The two ruby red spheres on top of Tentacruel's 'face,' which Pikachu had already managed to partially crack, began to glow brightly. With a large roar, the monster mustered up every last ounce of strength in its body to fire a huge beam of multicolored energy towards the little mouse.

The boy flinched ever so slightly when he saw the familiar sight of the Hyperbeam hurtling towards them, but he forced himself to stay strong. He knew his pikachu was much too exhausted at this point to dodge the attack... Ash had only one play. He knew it was risky because it would be the last attack Pikachu would be able to manage. If it didn't work, they would lose.

"Pikachu! One last Thunderbolt!"

With the last bit of his remaining energy, the tiny electric-type grunted and discharged a huge lightning bolt of electricity, which zoomed towards the on-coming Hyperbeam. The deafening roar of the thunder accompanied the yellow beam of power.

The two attacks zinged through the air and collided violently like two speeding trains traveling opposite directions. Upon impact, the two powerful beams combined to form an enormous explosion of energy, nearly blinding everyone in attendance. A huge mushroom cloud of light dwarfed the brightness of the stadium lights, causing the crowd to gasp at the incredible amount of power the two competitors had produced.

Ash shielded his eyes from the blinding light of the explosion. He couldn't see Pikachu or Tentacruel. He didn't know who had won, but he was sure that the match was over.

When the dust settled, both pokémon were visibly wounded. Both Pikachu and Tentacruel were charred black from the attack, and both were wearing many cuts and scraps on their bodies. The two battlers were gasping for air and looked ready to faint.

It was like the entire stadium went silent at that moment. Ash never took his eyes off his little buddy, hoping and praying that he was all right. The boy held his breath. He felt his heart exploding in his chest from all the excitement.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the teen could barely believe his eyes when he saw Zak Seabrook's tentacruel collapse and fall to the ground like a sack of potatoes. It was like slow motion, watching the fierce water-type jellyfish crash to the concrete.

Pikachu, who looked equally as drained and punch-drunk, wobbled around on his stumpy hind legs, but managed to stay conscious long enough to hear the referee's booming voice over the stadium's sound system.

"_Seabrook's tentacruel is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner! The match goes to the red trainer, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" _

Uncontrollable joy overtook Ash. The exhilarating feeling started in the boy's fingertips and instantly flowed through his entire body like he had just jammed a butter knife into an electrical socket. He couldn't even hear the crowd's roar or the stadium announcer's yelling... the only thing Ash could think about was how admirably Pikachu had battled.

He started to walk towards his exhausted friend who had just won the biggest battle of their lives for them. A huge smile began to stretch across the boy's face as the fact that they had won and advanced to the next round finally sunk in.

Ash was so ecstatic as he reached midfield that he didn't even notice the crowd suddenly go into a stunned silence. Three loud booming sounds followed.

Before the boy knew it, he was flat on his back, lying on the concrete just like the fainted Tentacruel. Pikachu, who still looked burnt out, was by his side with a look of grave concern in his black eyes.

"Pikapi!"

Ash had no idea what was going on or why he had suddenly decided to lie down. He was still feeling very light-headed from all the excitement of the amazing battle.

Ash reached down to his heaving stomach where he strangely felt a sense of intense pain. The front of his black t-shirt felt oddly wet. When the boy looked at his hand, he was shocked to see it was covered in a red, sticky substance. He didn't know what it was, or what was happening.

All Ash knew was that he suddenly felt extremely tired. He fought the urge, but eventually his heavy eyelids began to droop to a close.

The huge stadium crowd was still completely silent besides a few isolated gasps and screams. Everyone watching was too shocked at what had just transpired to speak.

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_OKAY THERE's CHAPTER 8... PLEASE please PLEASE Comment/review!_


	10. Chapter Nine: Terrifying Uncertainty

**_CHAPTER NINE: TERRIFYING UNCERTAINTY  
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_Please take the the time to post a comment after reading! It's the only way I can get better!'_

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"He's fading fast! We gotta hurry and get him to the ER, or we're gonna lose him!"

Underneath the bright stadium lights, a group of uniformed emergency medical technicians worked quickly to load Ash Ketchum's unconscious and badly bleeding body onto a stretcher and into the waiting helicopter that had touched down onto the Sapphire Stadium's battlefield. Their frantic voices were nearly drowned out by the loud hum of the aircraft's engines and whirling propellers.

Pikachu, who had seen his trainer collapse following their victory but didn't know exactly what had happened, jumped into the chopper along with Ash as the boy was being loaded in. The team of medics noticed the furry little pokémon climb on board but didn't have time to object.

"All right! Step on it!" one of the medics shouted to the pilot. There was a distinct sense of panic in his voice as he slammed the chopper's doors shut behind them after they had secured the patient.

The vessel's huge, spinning blades began to kick up an enormous cloud of dust and dirt from the field as they picked up speed. Its rudders lifted up off the ground slowly and ascended up and out of the open-air stadium on its way to Sapphire City Medical Center.

Every one of the thousands of fans in attendance was silent, watching with concern as the helicopter disappeared into the night sky...

* * *

Meanwhile, in her seat high up in the second deck of the stadium, a teenage girl struggled to wipe the streaming tears from her face with her trembling hands. She bit her bottom lip hard to prevent herself from sobbing too loudly.

The redhead stood and watched as a brigade of police officers down on the battlefield disarmed Zak Seabrook of his black pistol and had him lying on his stomach on the ground in handcuffs. The maniacal man in his dirty yellow polo shirt didn't appear at all regretful after he had inexplicably shot his opponent in the abdomen multiple times after losing. His intense grey eyes showed no remorse whatsoever and his body language remained casual and nonchalant.

Misty felt sick to her stomach. This just couldn't be real. Zak Seabrook's unthinkable reaction to losing the match had been so sudden and so unbelievable that the girl refused to accept that it had actually happened. No one would shoot their opponent just because he or she lost a match.

The image of her childhood best friend lying motionless on the medics' stretcher with multiple gunshot wounds to his chest had really hit her hard and would forever be burned in her memories.

As the cops led the gunman away, Misty began to think about yesterday when she had nearly come face to face with Ash in the Pok_émo_n Center for the first time in years. She had gathered up enough courage to make her way to the lobby where he was being grilled by reporters following his loss to Miss Lacey. But she let her fears take over when Ash spotted her spying on him. Like a coward, Misty had ended up running away.

And now, it appeared as though that strange and awkward near-encounter she and Ash had shared just one day ago might be their last. The realization that she might never again have another chance to reunite with her friend stung her in the heart like a dagger. The fear of losing him was crippling.

Misty didn't think she would ever forgive herself if Ash died before she ever had a chance to tell him how she felt about him.

* * *

… Back inside the flying aircraft, the badly injured pokémon trainer was laying helplessly on his back, his life quickly slipping away. Ash already had several tubes protruding out of his mouth and nose. His black t-shirt had been cut open to expose the gruesome-looking gunshot wounds that were still pouring out blood. The EMTs were all crouched around the boy, trying to stabilize him and measure his vitals while also attempting to stop the bleeding.

"His blood pressure is plummeting!" one of them shouted. "He's lost a lot of blood!"

"Goddammit! I think one of the bullets got his artery," his partner yelled as he tried to apply pressure with the gauze he was holding to Ash's wounds.

"Pikapi!"

Pikachu stood by his friend's side near his motionless face, obviously concerned and confused as to what was going on. The pokémon did know, however, that Ash was seriously hurt and that he shouldn't try to use Thunderbolt on him to try to wake him up.

The chaos in the helicopter's cabin intensified when the machines that were monitoring Ash's vital signs started beeping rapidly like a fire alarm over the steady buzz of the engine. The boy's body began to convulse violently on the stretcher as he began to cough up huge amounts of blood.

"Shit! We're losing him! We're losing him! Radio the hospital!"

"Rescue One to Sapphire Medical Center, do you read me? We are approaching for landing, but we're losing the patient fast... Patient's a teenage male, sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen... unknown if any vital organs were hit... We've got to get him to the ER immediately!" one of the medics screamed over the radio.

"_Rescue One, you are cleared for landing_," a female voice on the other end replied. "_There will be a crew waiting on the roof to receive the patient and transfer him immediately to the emergency room."_

"All right, copy that!" the man said before throwing the radio down to focus again on Ash. "Come on, kid! Don't die on us! We're almost there!"

* * *

"My baby! Where is he? Is my son going to be all right?" Delia Ketchum screamed as she burst through the emergency room's glass front doors in a panic. Terrified tears were streaming down the her face as she ran up to the front desk in the waiting room of the hospital. The hysterical brown-haired woman was followed by Dawn, May, Max, Johanna and Brock, all of whom looked equally as concerned.

The fourteen-year-old from Twinleaf Town was especially shaken as she sprinted behind Delia towards the front desk.

Dawn and the others had all been in the stands when the horrifying incident had occurred. The group had been sitting probably about fifty feet away from Ash when Zak shot him. The close view of the incomprehensible crime had definitely rattled all of Ash's friends.

Almost immediately after the helicopter had come to pick Ash up and transport him to the hospital, the six of them had rushed over as fast as they could.

"Ash! Where is he? Is he going to be okay?" Dawn demanded, pounding her fists on the wooden desk.

"What can you tell us, Nurse Joy?" added Brock, who seemed to be much too concerned about Ash's condition to notice the beauty of the attractive pink-haired woman behind the front desk.

"You've all got to remain calm!" the nurse said while waving her arms to gain the group's attention. "I know that it's a difficult thing to ask right now, but panicking won't solve anything."

"I'm s-sorry, Nurse Joy," Delia said, trying to compose herself. "I'm just so worried about my son. He's still… alive, isn't he?" She could barely bring herself to ask the question, but she had to know.

Dawn's mother quietly held Delia in a sort of comforting embrace, for whatever that as worth.

"As far as I know, Ms. Ketchum. Ash is in emergency surgery right now. We should know more about his condition as soon as he's out."

Everyone was in such a panic that they didn't notice when a man wearing blue scrubs walked into the waiting room with Pikachu in his arms. The little electric pokémon didn't look too happy, but he hadn't shocked the man… yet.

"Pikachu?" Max said and ran up to the man to take the pokémon from him.

"This little guy can't be back there during the surgery," the man said in a rather cold tone.

Pikachu jumped into Max's arms but glared back at the surgeon in the scrubs as its cheeks began to spark angrily.

"Easy, Pikachu," the boy said in a soothing tone. "These guys are just trying to help Ash. We gotta let them do their job."

Pikachu softened his scowl as soon as he heard this.

"Look, it's going to be a few hours until we know anything for sure," the male doctor commented from behind his face mask. "I suggest you folks go back to your hotel, and we'll contact you when we complete the surgery."

"Are you crazy?" Dawn shouted angrily as she stomped aggressively towards the man until she was almost toe to toe with him. "We're staying right here! I suggest _**you **_get back in there and make sure Ash is going to be okay!"

The girl was furious at how this surgeon didn't seem to care that the boy who meant more to her than anyone else in the world was in danger of dying. The way the doctor made it seem like Ash's emergency surgery was just some boring event that they might as well not even stick around for made Dawn's blood boil.

"Dawn! Don't be so rude!" her mother scolded.

"I'm sorry, Mom, but I'm not going anywhere until we know whether or not he's going to be okay!"

Everyone else seemed to agree with the girl judging by the stern and determined looks on all of their faces. None of them would ever think about leaving the hospital before at least finding out Ash's prognosis.

"Suit yourselves," the man sighed. "Make yourselves comfortable here in the waiting room. We'll let you know when we're finished. But I must warn you all… one of the bullets did come dangerously close to his heart, and I can't make any promises. All I can tell you is that we're doing the best we can."

And with that, the doctor turned around and returned to where Ash was being operated on. Dawn, May, Max, Brock, Johanna and Ash's mother were left with nothing they could do except wait and pray for the best.

The minutes crawled by at an excruciating slow pace as the group waiting for Ash to get out of surgery. Max and Brock were watching the television in the corner of the waiting room while Dawn, May, and Johanna did their best to comfort Delia, who was understandably a nervous wreck.

"… _Our top news story tonight: A pokémon battle ends in gunfire... The entire world watches and waits for word on the condition of trainer, Ash Ketchum… As many of you at home have probably already seen on television, Ketchum was shot multiple times earlier this evening by his opponent, Zak Seabrook following their battle today at the World Champions League Tournament in Sapphire City..."_

"Pikah?"

Pikachu sounded shocked as he watched the news program air a censored replay of what had happened earlier that day. The pokémon hadn't seen exactly why his trainer had to be air-lifted here in the first place, but he finally understood once he saw the footage of the hulking man calmly reaching into the cargo pocket of his khaki shorts and pulling out a black pistol.

"What the hell kind of reaction is that? Why would that guy _shoot_ Ash just because he lost the match? It doesn't make any sense!" Brock growled angrily as he watched the T.V. screen.

"Why does anyone shoot anyone?" May replied sadly from her seat in the waiting room. "Violence never makes any sense."

The rest of the group nodded joylessly.

The news anchor continued,_"Following the gunman's bizarre and tragic post-game reaction, Zak Seabrook was taken into custody by police and faces felony assault… and possible first degree murder charges for his actions earlier today._

_… As for Ketchum, he was air-lifted to Sapphire City Medical Center. Hospital officials refuse to comment on the condition of the fifteen-year-old, but the scene at the stadium certainly didn't look good. The thoughts and prayers of everyone here at World News Nightly are with the young man, his family and friends. We'll keep you posted as soon as we hear anything…_

_… Now in other news, police continue the baffling search for the missing inmate from Blackburn Island Pris-"_

Brock switched the television off as soon as the update on Ash had concluded. He didn't feel much like watching television with his friend's life in danger.

He and Max got up and walked over the where Delia, Dawn, May, and Johanna were sitting. Max plopped down next to his sister and rested his head on her shoulder. Brock took a nearby seat as well and together, they all waited anxiously for any word on Ash.

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* * *

_**SEVERAL HOURS LATER…**_

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Everyone had nodded off in their seats there in the waiting room when Nurse Joy returned. It had obviously been a long and traumatic day for all of them.

"Excuse me, Ms. Ketchum?" the young woman whispered, gently touching Delia's shoulder in order to wake her up.

"Huh? Oh! Ash? How is he?" Delia stammered as soon as she remembered where she was. Her shouts woke everyone else up as well. They were all afraid to hear what Nurse Joy had to say.

"Is Ash out of surgery?" May asked timidly. "Is he going to be all right?"

"He's out of surgery, but I have to be honest with you all," Joy said in a grim tone. "One of the bullets punctured his lung and another ruptured his left ventricle. He survived the surgery, but…"

"'But what?" Delia and rest of them shouted in unison.

"But Ash is on a ventilator and it's hard to say whether or not he will survive the night."

"What?" Dawn screamed, her normally bright blue eyes were red and bloodshot from all the crying she had been doing.

"All we can do is hope that he pulls through. The surgeons have done everything they can, but there was only so much they could do. The rest is up to him. He's resting as comfortably as possible right now. We can only hope and pray that he comes out of it and is able to recover."

"S-so, there's a ch-chance he'll…. d-die?" Dawn asked sheepishly, almost whispering.

"Yes. I'm afraid so," Nurse Joy replied honestly yet compassionately. "Look, I'm not going to lie to you, there is a strong possibility that Ash won't ever wake up from this. We will continue to monitor him and in a few days we should be able to determine whether or not it's practical to keep him on life-support."

"Oh my gosh!" May sobbed as she covered her face and collapsed back into one of the waiting room chairs.

"Wait, what do you mean, Nurse Joy? Why wouldn't we keep Ash on life-support?" Brock asked.

"Well, even though he isn't conscious and the machine he's hooked up to is breathing for him, he is undoubtedly in a lot of pain. And if it gets to a point where we know he won't recover, it might be best to… pull the plug, so to speak, and put him out of his misery."

It was clear that Nurse Joy felt pained to have to be so truthful to Ash's friends and family.

"No way! Ash is a fighter! He can beat this!" Max shouted, obviously not willing to accept the boy's grim diagnosis.

"Pika-Pikachu!" Pikachu chimed in, knowing better than anyone how strong Ash's will was.

"Well, it's good that you are all so positive," Joy commended. "Now, would you like to go in and see him?"

Dawn and the others vehemently nodded their heads and shot up out of their chairs.

"Alright, follow me then." The young nurse led the group from the waiting area down a hallway to Ash's room in the intensive care unit.

After the Nurse opened the door for them, Delia began to break down once again when she saw her son lying in the bed. Various tubes and machines were connected to the boy who, judging by the intense look on his face, looked like he was in a lot of pain.

"Oh, my poor baby!" was all Delia could say as she began to sob. She bent down and kissed Ash gently on the forehead. "Please! Please come back to us, Sweetie! You can't… you can't leave me. I love you, Ash."

Johanna, who also had tears flowing from her eyes, walked up to once again place a comforting arm around Delia's shoulder.

"Pikapi…" Pikachu jumped up onto Ash's bed and gently hugged Ash's arm. Tiny tears began to well up in the rodent's eyes.

Brock, Max, May and Dawn stood back, allowing the grieving mother to be with her son. Dawn was more than a little distraught over how frail and weak Ash looked. She and the others were so used to seeing Ash as the hyperactive pokémon trainer, full of life with that trademark twinkle in his big brown eyes.

But this Ash was very different. He didn't look like himself at all. His face was as pale as a silcoon and blood that had apparently escaped from his bandaged wounds stained the front of the cream-colored hospital gown he was wearing.

No one said a word for probably fifteen minutes or so. After that, Nurse Joy returned to the room.

"All right, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you all to return to the waiting room. The doctors need to run some more tests. You can come back to be with Ash after that."

"Okay. Thank you, Nurse," Johanna replied, coaxing the trembling Delia to her feet. "Maybe we should go back to the hotel for the night, Delia. It's getting late, and there isn't anything more we can do here tonight. Ash is in good hands."

Delia was too hysterical with grief to disagree. Johanna gathered up the woman's purse for her and everyone exited Ash's room.

"If it's all right, Mom, I'd like to stay here," Dawn said when the group had returned to the waiting room. "I want to be here in case something happens."

"Well, I'd rather you didn't stay here all by yourself, Dawn."

"I'll stay too," May instantly volunteered.

"Me too!" Max said.

"Pikah!"

"I'm gonna stay too," Brock said. "Will you two be okay getting back to the hotel?"

"Yes, we'll be fine," Johanna replied with a warm smile. "I just think Delia needs some rest. It's been a terrible day to say the least. We'll be back in the morning. Dawn, you have my cell number if anything comes up."

"Th-thank you all," Delia spoke gratefully in between sobs. "Ash is lucky to have f-friends like you."

The two women said farewell and exited the hospital. Max, May, Dawn, Brock, and Pikachu were left in the empty waiting room to worry. They tried to pass the time by watching television, playing cards, and reminiscing about the past, but it was no use. With their friend clinging to life in the next room, none of them could really focus on anything else.

After about an hour and a half, Nurse Joy returned once again to check on the gang. Brock, May and Max were slumped over in their chairs, soundly asleep after all the day's chaos. Pikachu was curled up in a furry yellow ball in May's arms, sleeping as well. Dawn was the only one still wide awake and jumped to her feet as soon as she saw the pink-haired nurse.

"How's he doing?" the girl asked before the nurse could speak.

"Nothing's changed, I'm afraid," she replied somewhat sadly. "But he's stabilized at least. You can see him again if you'd like."

"Yes, of course," Dawn said right away. She jumped to her feet. She followed Joy back into Ash's room and pulled up a chair next to his bed and sat down.

She looked down at Ash's face. It was partially hidden by the winding, plastic breathing tubes, but she could plainly see how much pain he was in, how much he was struggling to live.

"Oh, Ash," she whispered. "Please wake up."

Dawn reached over and took Ash's hand, which felt cold and limp in hers. She leaned over and rested her head carefully on his chest, tears steadily streaming down her face now. She remained silent for a while before she eventually spoke.

"Come on, Ash. You know I'm not very good at goodbyes. You and I have been through too much for it to end like this."

Seeing Ash like this made Dawn think back to when she had first met him all the way back in her home region of Sinnoh almost five years ago. She remembered it like it was only yesterday.

It was her tenth birthday and the first day of her pokémon journey. She and Piplup had found an exhausted Pikachu who had been separated from Ash when they had first arrived in Sinnoh.

They found Pikachu stumbling around and tried their best to protect it from Team Rocket, who was trying to steal it as usual. Piplup was only a baby back then and it couldn't protect Pikachu from Team Rocket's huge mechanical robot. The robot was just about to capture the young penguin-pokémon as well, but that's when Ash came to the rescue.

Dawn remembered being so stunned when Ash climbed up a nearby tree and bravely risked his life by leaping onto the enormous machine to save Pikachu.

"Remember that Ash? I was so amazed by you and how far you would go to make sure your friends were safe… I guess you haven't changed a bit… I'm still amazed by you Ash… I'm _always _amazed by you."

Dawn lifted her head up and kissed him on the cheek just like she had done a few days ago. But this time, she wasn't apprehensive about it at all. She thought back to a few days ago when she had been freaking out about how awkward things would be between the two of them after the kiss... oh, what she wouldn't give to feel that way now. At least that would mean Ash's health wouldn't be in doubt.

"… So you see, you have to wake up! We still have so many more adventures to go on together. Remember last week when you told me you'd come with me to help find a new dress for my next contest? Well, who's gonna come with me if you… if you…" Dawn couldn't even bring herself to think about Ash dying.

"Please! Please come back to me, Ash! I need you… to tell me that there's no need to worry. I need you, Ash… I… I love you."

Dawn was still resting her head on Ash's chest. She heard and felt his weak heart beating slowly, and it gave her a faint glimmer of hope.

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* * *

.

It was late at night now as a shadowy figure ran hurriedly down the streetlamp-lit road towards the large hospital building. Each running footstep she made echoed loudly against the concrete.

The beautiful moonlight, not to mention the additional glow from the still-visible Millennium Supernova in the night sky teased the girl as she ran; she had no time to soak in the midnight sky's allure.

It was a chilly night, although the teen girl wasn't sure whether the shivers that she felt trickling down her back were due to the fact that she wore only a snug, white 'wife-beater' top and cut-off denim shorts or because of the extreme anxiety and fear she felt inside.

The girl, Misty from Cerulean City, was panting heavily by the time she slowed her pace as she finally reached the glass, sliding doors at the front of the hospital's emergency room. A few small venomoths were fluttering around the attractive florescent lights above the doors as they smartly opened for the girl, letting her into the ER's warm and well-lit lobby.

She walked up to the unoccupied front desk and leaned against it, holding herself up with her arms as she struggled to catch her breath. She wiped the sweat from her brow and readjusted her rusty red hair into a new ponytail.

Was there anyone in charge at this hospital? The girl knew it was late, probably close to 2 a.m., but wasn't there supposed to be someone on duty around the clock?

Misty looked over to the nearby waiting room area to her right and gasped when she saw the four familiar figures snoozing in chairs, all of whom looked uncomfortable and strained in their sleep. She recognized Brock, May and Max right away despite the contorted position their bodies were in while they slept in the rigid waiting room chairs. She had missed them dearly. She wished their reunion would have been under happier circumstances.

And of course, Pikachu... Ash's beloved partner, his very first pokémon, was sleeping soundly against May's bosom.

Misty felt a sharp pang of guilt overtake her as she saw all of Ash's friends acting so loyal by sleeping here while his health remained in question.

Misty had witnessed the gruesome scene many hours ago at the stadium, but was ashamed that it had taken her this long to gather up the courage to come to the hospital to visit him. She had desperately prayed the entire way over here that it wasn't too late.

Eventually, after about three excruciating minutes which felt more like hours, a young nurse wearing a white smock and matching hair kerchief walked up from the back room and greeted the girl.

"Hello, how can I help you?" the nurse asked rather casually after she had concluded that this girl wasn't here because she herself needed medical attention.

Misty managed a polite smile, but was clearly still rather panicked.

"Uh… I'm here to see Ash Ketchum," she stammered nervously. She paused and then added, "I'm a friend of his."

Nurse Joy had an uncomfortable look on her face when she realized that this girl obviously didn't know the graveness of Ash's situation. Was this girl really a close friend of Ash's? Or was she just some fan girl or media member trying to catch a glimpse of the injured tournament trainer?

"What's your name, young lady?"

"Misty, ma'am."

"Well Misty, it's very late… I'm afraid visiting hours are over for the day. You would have been better served to have come earlier, young lady."

Misty's shoulder's slumped when she heard this. She fought back hard against the wetness in her blue-green eyes. She regretted deeply her apprehension earlier that day. She should have rushed over immediately after the incident with Zak had occurred.

There had been a time where Misty would have vehemently argued the nurse's ruling. She would have growled, shouted, kicked, screamed, whatever it would take to get her way. But now she was too ashamed and distraught to really put up a fight so she just turned and sadly began to walk towards the exit.

She stopped when she heard another female voice shout from across the room, "Misty, wait!"

The redhead turned around and her sea-green eyes grew big when she saw a beautiful blue-haired girl in a pink skirt running up to her. Misty didn't recognize this girl, but obviously the girl knew her.  
"Nurse Joy, it's all right. She's telling the truth," the girl said to Joy.

"Very well then, Dawn." Nurse Joy said as she smiled slightly before exiting the lobby.

After the nurse had left, Misty turned to the blue-eyed teen in the skirt – Dawn, as the nurse had called her – and gave her a grateful look.

"Thanks, Dawn," the redhead said simply. "My name's Mis-"

"I know who you are," the girl interrupted in a cold and hostile tone which caught Misty by surprise. "So nice of you to show up finally, Misty."

The sixteen-year-old didn't know what to say. Who was this girl? Was it Ash's girlfriend? A part of Misty began to feel the twinge of jealousy creep up her spine, but she knew Dawn's sarcastic comment was completely justified. Misty was extremely ashamed that it had taken her more than five hours to make it down to the hospital to see someone she considered her very best friend.

The girl gave Misty another disgusted scowl. She looked like she wanted to physically fight her, but instead, Dawn reluctantly filled Misty in on the whole situation and how there was a good chance Ash wouldn't survive the shooting.

The normally tough, tomboyish gym leader instantly stopped in her tracks. Her heart sunk down to the floor, and she felt like she had been kicked in the gut. The girl had expected that Ash's condition was bad, but she had truly thought that he would pull through like always. Misty hadn't expected this visit to be a farewell.

"I guess you should go see him," Dawn said, still in a combative tone. "That's why you came isn't it?"

Misty was a bit surprised that Dawn had given her blessing to go see Ash, but she wasn't going to argue. Still surprisingly composed all things considered, Misty bravely continued to walk down the hall and into Ash's hospital room as hot tears streamed down her face. She was trying desperately to hang on to the last bits of hope she still had.

Misty felt her heart literally aching as soon as she saw Ash lying in his bed, tubes and bandages all obstructing her view of his face. She remained at the doorway just crying silently.

She had always worried about what she would say to Ash the first time she saw him after all the time apart, and a small part of her was actually relieved that she did not have to awkwardly stammer for words at this time. But she angrily scolded herself for thinking this way. How could she be glad about anything at this point?

The girl nervously stepped towards Ash's bed careful not to disturb any of the wiry tubing protruding out from his arms. She shuddered at the sight of so many machines and contraptions hooked up to her friend.

She pulled over the folding chair that had been left in the room by someone else and plopped down next to him.

"Hey, Ash," Misty said plainly, not knowing exactly what else to say. "It's me."


	11. Chapter Ten: The Four Guardians

_Here's the next chapter. PLEASE remember to leave a review after you read. Please offer up any comment, suggestions, criticism, suggestions._

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**CHAPTER TEN: THE FOUR GUARDIANS**

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The harsh bright light from above nearly blinded Misty as she slowly opened her eyelids. Unaware that she had fallen asleep, the teenage girl was instantly shocked when her vision cleared and she had a chance to survey her surroundings.

The hot midday sun was beating down on her and there wasn't a cloud to be found in the bright blue sky. She looked down and saw that she was barefoot, lying on a white, sandy beach. She gazed out to the vast crystal blue ocean before her as she climbed to her feet, feeling the hot sand between her toes. Palm trees and other forestry dominated the area behind her in the distance. This place was similar to the many tropical islands that she, Ash and Brock had visited during their travels through the Orange Archipelago years ago.

"What's going on? Where am I?" Misty asked out loud, not sure what to make of the situation. She assumed she was dreaming. After all, how else could she explain how or why she had woken up on some random tropical island? But then again, the girl thought to herself as she felt a delightful cool breeze tickle her bare legs, the view all around her seemed so vivid, so lifelike... so real.

This strange place in which she found herself would have delighted her with its beauty and peacefulness if she hadn't remembered the grave situation with Ash back in Sapphire City. Her heart sank when the chilling image of the boy from Pallet Town lying lifeless in his hospital bed returned to her mind. Misty had to figure out where she was quickly, and figure out some way to get back to Ash.

Suddenly a loud whooshing sound startled the girl and she whirled around in the white sand to figure out the noise's source.

Misty nearly screamed when she turned and saw a shadow-like creature levitating just above the ground before her, probably only four or five feet away. It was slightly shorter than her and had a small head with a white fog-like substance billowing from it and covering one of its bright blue eyes. Its black body was shaped like an hour-glass. The mysterious pokémon stood at attention without making a sound.

"Umm, hello?" Misty whispered nervously, not exactly sure whether or not this strange creature wanted to cause her harm. She didn't even know if it could understand her.

The black-colored being said nothing in return. It stared back at Misty for a few seconds, as if to make sure that she was ready, before it turned and blasted off into the sky like a rocket. The girl was left alone again, even more dumbfounded by what was going on. She didn't have long to ponder however, as the ground beneath Misty's feet suddenly began to shake like an earthquake.

"What the-!"

At the same time that the earth started to rumble, dark storm clouds started rolling in faster than Misty had ever seen clouds move before. They eliminated the sun and the blue sky from view and quickly began to produce massive drops of heavy rain. The roar of thunder could be heard in the distance like an ursaring's growl. The boundless sea that surrounded the island started to rock and roll; huge waves crashed onto the beach near Misty.

In just an instant, the weather had gone from gorgeous and sunny to threatening and stormy.

The intensity of the ocean waves, the lightning storm, and the rumbling earthquake intensified, and Misty fell to her knees. She began to fear for her life as the terrifying chaos raged on all around her.

Just then, another sudden booming sound rattled her eardrums. Misty turned to see that a large mountain in the distance – which was actually a volcano as it turned out – had violently erupted and was spewing out glowing red molten lava. Thick, gray smoke billowed out of the top of the mountain and contributed to the overall gloominess of the dark storm clouds above.

Misty gasped and sprawled out on all fours in order to keep her balance against the quaking ground. Along with the fiery excrement that had been thrown up into the air, she saw a strange flying creature shoot out from the volcano like someone being fired from a cannon. It zoomed across the dark sky like a jet, avoiding dangerous bolts of lightning as it soared in the girl's direction.

"What is that thing?" the girl said to herself as she tried to see what the flying creature looked like from the distance.

As it approached, Misty was amazed to see a gorgeous shimmering rainbow trailing behind it like the exhaust fumes from an airplane. The magnificent ray of multicolored light contrasted beautifully with the gloominess of the storm clouds.

Misty didn't have long to admire the beautiful bird because a deafening boom from the ground rudely interrupted her. Before the flying creature in the sky got close enough for her to recognize it, a gigantic fissure split the sandy ground beneath her, creating a huge canyon. The girl screamed; she nearly fell into the chasm to her death.

But she regained her balance just in time to watch as a bullish creature with a black, rock-hard exoskeleton and thick, stumpy legs climbed up and out of the crack in the earth. A thick cloud of black dirt shrouded the turtle-like beast in a dark, ashy mist, causing Misty to cough from the dust getting in her lungs.

And to the girl's left, she turned her head to see a towering, snake-like creature shoot itself out of the raging ocean waters nearby like a shiny blue rocket. The sea creature roared as it flew up in the air and towards the beach. Misty thought it looked like an enormous and more fierce-looking dragonair.

Next, a small glowing yellow bird gracefully fluttered down from the black storm clouds. It looked oblivious to the deadly bolts of white-hot lightning that zinged down to the ground all around the blazing yellow creature. Eventually, the pidgy-sized bird made its way down to Misty and gently perched on her arm. The girl felt a strange tingling sensation in her arm where the bird's three legs – yes, three – were gripping her.

And finally, the first flying creature touched down on the ground in front of the girl as well. Finally close enough for Misty to see clearly, she instantly recognized the red-feathered bird. It was Ho-Oh, the mythical pokémon that was part of countless human legends and fairy tales. But despite all of the stories, Misty had never actually thought Ho-Oh was real. She stared in awe at the magnificent bird. Its massive wingspan blazed with a blinding red and gold aura like they were on fire.

Instantly, the bedlam surrounding the girl stopped as soon as all four pokémon assembled on the beach near her. The ground went completely still, the storm clouds dissipated, the volcano in the distance stopped oozing lava, and the ocean waters calmed. The sunny sky and cool ocean breeze returned, just as it had been when Misty first found herself on this tropical island. The four pokémon all stood and stared down at the young girl, their bodies reverent and still.

Misty stared back at the four but remained speechless. She knew for sure she had to be dreaming by now. Abrupt weather change like this didn't happen in real life. But again, when she looked at these pokémon towering over her and she felt the warm tropical sun beating down on her fair skin, it certainly felt real.

The girl just continued to gawk up at the four colorful beasts before Ho-Oh spoke. Aside from seeing the legendary fire-bird in books, Misty didn't recognize any of the powerful-looking pokémon.

"My child," the bird spoke in a calm human voice without talking as its fire-red eyes met her aqua-green ones. "Your assumption is correct. This is only dream."

Well that certainly made sense to Misty. But that didn't explain why it didn't feel like a dream.

"This is no ordinary dream, as you have already realized," Ho-Oh continued right on cue, its baritone voice echoing in Misty's ears. "We have asked Darkrai to allow us to visit you tonight in order to deliver to you an important message about the boy you call, Ash."

"Ash?" Misty repeated, sounding flabbergasted to hear Ho-Oh mentioning him. She also couldn't believe someone or something could actually control something so intimate as a person's dreams, but one thing Misty had learned over the years was to believe the unbelievable.

"Indeed," the shimmering bird replied. "No doubt you are aware that the situation in Sapphire City is grave. With the injuries the boy has sustained, his time on earth will likely end before the sun returns to the sky."

A grim chill ran down Misty's spine when she heard this. Even though she knew she was dreaming, hearing such a authoritative voice confirm her fears was horrible nonetheless. The girl began to cry once again. She slapped her cheeks hard with her open palms in an attempt to snap herself out of her slumber.

"So Ash is going to die?" she sobbed in between whacks. "Please! Please, can you take me back to him? I need to be with him!"

Misty didn't want to be dreaming anymore. She wanted to wake up to be with Ash during his final moments if his death was indeed eminent as Ho-Oh was claiming. The four beasts all gave the girl a sympathetic look before Ho-Oh again spoke.

"We will grant your wish, my child," it said in an almost soothing tone. "But the reason we are here is to tell you that there is a way to save the boy. But to do so... we ask for your assistance."

"What! So you mean there's a chance he'll live?"

"That's correct, my child. But we require your help to save him."

Misty was surprised to hear the request. These four obviously very powerful pokémon needed _her_ help? The sixteen-year-old was confused, but not unwilling. She would do anything for Ash.

"Of course," she said. "I'll do whatever I can, but I've got to ask... What can I do? Why did you choose me?"

Ho-Oh and the others gave each other a look before the fiery pokémon said simply, "My dear, I have been watching over this boy ever since his birth. I know how many amazing adventures you and he have shared, and how many lasting memories you two have made. I know how strong the bond between the two of you is, even to this day. And so, in this, his time of ultimate need... I know it is you whom we can trust."

Misty, although still incredibly distressed about Ash, felt a brief wave of warmth wash over when she heard Ho-Oh's words. She still had many questions however.

"So, I'm still not quite sure I understand," she said. "You said you've been watching over Ash his whole life?"

"Indeed. The story behind just how important he is to this world is long and complicated, but one thing is for sure... While it is clear that the boy you call Ash is loved and admired by many, and his death would undoubtedly bring sadness to all who know him... I'm afraid his demise would have a far greater consequence to all who value peace and happiness throughout this entire planet and beyond, even those who know nothing about the boy or his existence."

"What?" Misty asked, her eyes getting big. 'What do you mean?"

"Like I said, it is a long story, my dear," the bird answered. "And tonight is not the night to sit idly by and share stories. We mustn't waste any time. All I will say is that Ash holds the key to keeping the universe from falling into the clutches of evil... Only he can stop the dark forces that threaten to bring suffering to this entire world. We simply must keep him alive."

Misty was feeling overwhelmed with the entire situation. She was amazed by how important her friend seemed to be, but honestly, she didn't really care at the moment. The only thing that was important to her was to make sure she didn't lose Ash.

"Okay, so what can I do?" the girl asked again, getting more impatient by the second.

"Yes, while it is true that the boy's situation appears grave, there is a possible solution... We must return the Sacred Gift to him. It has the power to heal the boy's injuries... but it has been separated from him. We must make sure he holds it in his hands before it is too late."

"Sacred Gift? That's how we can save Ash? What is it? Where can we find it? What does it look like? How can it help? What's sacred about it?" Misty reeled off question after question in one breath, desperate to know how she could help.

Ho-Oh and his three fellow pokémon looked at each other as if to silently convene in order to decide whether or not they should answer all of her questions. Eventually, however, Ho-Oh continued speaking.

"You see my child, before either Time or Space existed, the Original One – the creator of all – was born. And after his birth, he sought to create the universe..."

"'The Legend of Arceus,' I know," Misty said. "I've read about the 'Original One' ever since I was a little girl."

"Yes, but I'm afraid the version of the legend that you humans have is not entirely accurate," Ho-Oh said plainly. "It doesn't tell the entire story. It doesn't mention anything about... Luceus."

"Luceus? Who's that?"

Again the four beasts eyed one another cautiously before Ho-Oh again resumed.

"Well, when Lord Arceus was born and decided to create Space and Time and the rest of the universe we know today, it knew that it would need help for this grand task. So when it was strong enough, Arceus split himself into two, and thus there were the Original Two."

"What? So Luceus is Arceus' other half?"

"Essentially yes," Ho-Oh replied as the cool tropical breeze caused its gleaming red feathers to bristle in the wind. "But instead of simply aiding in the creation process, Luceus betrayed Arceus, wanting to rid itself of its partner in order to spawn its own dark and evil universe. And so, the two gods waged an epic war not even conceivable to humans over who would rule over all creation.

"Eventually, Arceus triumphed and was able to banish the evil Luceus to an alternate, prison-like dimension. Both gods were extremely weakened from battle. Luceus was too weak to escape his imprisonment. And Arceus, too tired to create all he wished, bore us... The Four Guardians, so we could create the earth and all the life that inhabits its lands, waters and skies in his name.

Misty stared in awe at Ho-Oh and the other three of The Four Guardians, the creators of all life on the planet.

"The Four Guardians..." she said in an memorized tone. "So you created humans as well?"

"Indeed. However, at the beginning of this planet's existence, the human race was much different than today. Originally, humans and pokémon were much more alike physically, mentally, and spiritually. The two inhabitants of the world had an even closer relationship with one another than the present as well."

"What do you mean?"

"Well humans were created to be pure of heart with no evil thoughts in their minds. They possessed special abilities similar to those that pokémon of today possess. But above all, humans were immortal."

"Immortal! So what happened between then and now? We certainly aren't immortal now," Misty said, thinking again about Ash's dire situation.

"I'm afraid we have already exhausted too much time. We must soon part for the boy's life hangs in the balance. All I will tell you is that unfortunately, the banishment of Luceus did not spell the end of evil. Eventually, through its evil ways, the human race lost many of the special abilities it had been blessed with, including immortality. And even today, Luceus and his loyal followers threaten the safety and peace of this universe."

With that, Ho-Oh and the other guardians prepared to leave. The small yellow dove, fluttered away from Misty's arm. The other two beasts turned to return to the ocean and underground cavern from where they came.

"Hey! Wait!" Misty shouted after them, still with more questions. "How exactly can Luceus still be a threat when Arceus banished it? And again... what does Ash have to do with any of this?"

Ho-Oh did not turn back around to face the girl, but the pokémon's voice could be heard as it spread its wings to take off.

"Your questions will all be answered in due time, my child. But right now, all I want you to focus on is the Sacred Gift. It holds the same powers that the human race once possessed before Luceus was able to intervene... and it's the only chance the boy you call Ash has to survive."

"But I still don't understand why I has to be me! You four are the creators of all humans! Can't you just save him?"

"I'm afraid not, my dear," Ho-Oh's voice whispered in Misty's ear despite the fact that the first had now taken off and was now soaring away. "Alas, we are only able to appear before you in spirit with the help of Darkrai. We can only be summoned in body by the Chosen One when he holds the Sacred Gift in his hand..."

And with that Ho-Oh and the other guardians disappeared in a flash. Misty was left to wonder and try to make sense of what the legendary phoenix had said.

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_**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**_

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Misty groggily opened her eyelids when the sharp, piercing sounds of the various machines hooked up to the boy started to beep loudly like a fire alarm. The girl instantly awoke from her nap and sprang out of her chair. She had no idea what the loud noises meant, but one thing was for sure... they didn't sound good.

"Nurse Joy! Somebody, come quick! Something's wrong!" she shouted.

Nurse Joy rushed into the room and immediately ran over to Ash in a panic. She turned her attention to the computer monitors and gauges that were measuring the boy's vitals. To Misty's horror, the nurse's eye grew wide before she turned and sprinted out of the room.

"His heart's crashing! I have to go get the doctor!" the nurse yelled behind her.

The terrified redhead was left in the room while the machines were still going haywire. She felt absolutely helpless as the chaotic sounds of the heart monitors raged on. Not knowing what else to do, Misty went up to Ash who looked even worse than before. May squeezed his hand gently while she tried not to panic.

"Hold on, Ash. Nurse Joy is getting the doctor. You're going to be fine," she whispered, although she was mostly trying to convince herself of that fact. "Ash! You gotta fight! I can't lose you!" Misty was yelling now, not knowing what else to do. She began to cry as she looked at her friend who was helplessly fading away in that hospital bed. She knew she had to do something.

Instantly, the strange dream she had just awoken from came to her mind. She remembered how Ho-Oh had told her that it knew all about her and Ash and the many adventures they had been on together. For a few brief moments, she allowed herself to think back to all the great times they had had. And now, years later, Misty found herself staring down sadly at the chilling reality that was quickly unfolding. She continued to cry. She couldn't bear to think about life without him.

Misty then remembered the Sacred Gift, and how Ho-Oh has said it was the only hope. But the girl had no idea of where she should even start looking for such a thing. And there was no way she could just leave Ash's side at a time like this.

"He's gone into cardiac arrest, Nurse!" the doctor shouted as he and Nurse Joy came bolting back into the room. The heart monitor suddenly stopped its incessant beeping and flat-lined with one long, ear-piercing tone.

"Oh my god! Ash, no!" Misty began to tremble in fear, her lip quivered as she tried to stabilize her weak knees. Her blue-green eyes grew as wide as saucers when she saw the doctor grab the electric paddles in order to shock Ash's heart back to life.

The doctor rubbed the two paddles together before placing them firmly on Ash's chest.

"Ready…clear!" he said before pulling the trigger. Ash's limp body jumped up from the shock.

"Again! Ready...clear! Come on, damn it!" the doctor repeated this several times, but Ash's heart wouldn't respond. "It's not working. Increase the voltage please, Nurse...Clear!"

"Ash! No! You can't die! He can't die! Save him, please!" the teen wailed. She screamed so hard that her throat felt on fire.

"Come on! You've got to leave!" one of Nurse Joy's assistants grabbed Misty by the arm. She led her out of the ICU and back into the waiting room.

"Misty! What's going on?" May, Brock and Max all shouted, half-surprised to see the redhead, but obviously more so concerned with the terrified expression on her face as she came out of Ash's room.

But Misty couldn't speak. She was sobbing so hard that she couldn't breathe.

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The catastrophically wicked thunderstorm that had been assaulting the canopy of the gigantic, dark forest for the past week had finally subsided, but the crisp chilly air and a few black clouds in the nighttime sky floated steadily past the full moon.

Underneath the vast jungle's natural awning of branches, leaves, trunks, and vines, a hint of shiny wetness from the rain could still be detected despite the darkness. The entire underbelly of the forest sparkled in what moonlight managed to find its way down to the moistened ground.

With the constant roaring and rumbling from the storms above finally having ceased, the forest sprang to life. Various species of nocturnal, woodland-dwelling pokémon were finally free to crawl, scurry, squirm, and fly all around their seemingly peaceful home.

But as a small family of stantler were pausing to drink from a puddle that had collected in a relatively open area of the otherwise congested forest, a sudden rustling sound from the nearby brush interrupted them. Their ears perked up and almost instantly, they galloped away into the night.

Moments later, the source of that noise revealed itself when a shadowy figure emerged from the brush and stopped when it reached the open area of ground. The inconspicuous figure, hidden by the night, paused and appeared to be breathing heavily, struggling to collect its composure.

Suddenly, the unidentifiable shadow spoke. The scratchy male voice sounded restless and annoyed.

"We've been walking around this fucking forest for hours! There's no way we're going to find anything out here… the scroll doesn't say anything about finding the crystals in the forest! Why are we even out here!" Strangely, the man appeared to be talking to himself.

Then, as odd as that was, the man then answered himself… this time he spoke in a more angry and domineering tone of voice. And odder still, as the man replied to himself, his eyes seemed to be glowing a bright blue color, especially vibrant as they contrasted greatly with the surrounding darkness.

"_Silence, human! We must keep searching… I can sense that someone has already discovered the red crystal! I can feel its presence is very near! Now, we must hurry… the sun will be rising in only a __few hours! It's not much further, keep going!"_

The blue glow from the man's eyes disappeared after he had heard the strange voice inside his head urge him to continue on. Whatever that mysterious voice was, it seemed to have given him a renewed sense of motivation and desire to keep staggering through the forest.

But before the shadowy and apparently schizophrenic man continued on, he reached down and pulled something out of his pocket. With a loud hissing sound, like a match striking, the man lit a small road flare which ignited quickly with a blazing orange glow that washed the entire area with light.

The man's mangled face was revealed in the soft, flickering orange glow. He looked exhausted but determined.

His long, unkempt hair was a mixture of gray and silver and looked like it hadn't been washed or cut in years. The man wore a matching beard which was scraggly and snarled, and it reached down to his chest. The incredible amount of hair on the man hid much of his battered face, but even the thick beard and curtains of silver hair couldn't fully hide the several bloody gashes and dark bruises that littered the man's cheeks and underneath his eyes. His left eye was badly contused and swollen almost completely shut.

The light from the flare also revealed the orange jumpsuit the man was wearing. Large stains of mud, blood, or a combination of the two caked the entirety of the jumpsuit. There were dozens of rips and jagged tears across the chest and sleeves, and both pant-legs were missing entirely. But despite its grizzled appearance, the patch on the front of the orange suit could still be easily read.

**"BLACKBURN ISLAND PRISON - Inmate No. 235647,**" the patch said in block lettering.

After igniting the road flare, the man gingerly kneeled down, allowing the light-source to sit gently on the ground while he took a brown backpack from off his back. He set that down as well and began to rummage through it hastily.

Finally, he pulled out what he had been looking for: A large roll of paper about the length of his forearm. He carefully unfurled the brittle sheet of parchment and held it out in front of him, holding the flare in his teeth so he had both hands free to grip each end of the scroll.

The parchment looked ancient, perhaps thousands of years old. It was extremely brittle and wrinkled, and it had acquired a dirty brown color and a musty, moldy smell over time. Its edges were extremely frayed and ripped, and the black writing was faded and smudged.

But the man could still clearly decipher the scroll. He had found it under extraordinary circumstances a few days ago, but he never grew tired of reading about the astonishing proclamations that the scroll claimed; almost as if reading the words yet again would give him an added boost of energy and motivation as he made his way through the woods. The man chuckled as he read over the titillating words for what must have been the hundredth time since he had discovered the scroll.

"… To he who unearths this ancient scroll," the man read the writing from the scroll aloud to himself, sounding increasingly exciting and rejuvenated. "… the opportunity for unworldly power, you hold within your own hands…"

This was the man's favorite line of the scroll, "… _The opportunity for unworldly power, you hold within your own hands…"  
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The opportunity for 'unworldly power' was what fueled the man to keep meandering through this treacherous jungle. He had no idea how or why this sort of opportunity had fallen into his lap over the past week, but he wasn't complaining.

"_Enough! We MUST continue on now, human!" _the man heard his inner voice command. "_Whoever has discovered the red crystal is somewhere in this forest… we must find them!" _The man's glimmering brown eyes briefly flashed bright blue again.

The man carefully rolled the scroll back up into a tube and placed it back into his bag. Then, after extinguishing the flare and the soft orange light that it had been providing, the man continued on his search through the endless forest.


	12. Chapter Eleven: A Second Chance

_Hey, sorry for the long delay! Here is Chapter 11 finally! Please be sure to **COMMENT/REVIEW** if you read this. It doesn't take that long. If you want a shorter delay in between chapters, please **COMMENT/REVIEW** and motivate me to write faster haha. Thanks :)_

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**CHAPTER ELEVEN: A SECOND CHANCE**

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Dawn and the others were all pacing frantically around the waiting room once again, trying desperately to cling to any sort of hope they could. Delia and Johanna had rushed back to the hospital as soon as Brock had contacted them to let them know what had happened: The boy's heart had failed and the moment they all had been dreading seemed near.

The sleek, digital clock hanging on the wall read **3****:34 ****A**.**M.**, but fear and anxiousness overpowered any possible feelings of fatigue for the group of worried friends. The tension in the waiting room was almost tangible enough to cut with a knife as they all waited and worried. It had been nearly an hour since the group had been suddenly awoken by a surprising appearance from Misty, who had rushed into the waiting room in a loud panic. Aside from Dawn, none of the group had even known Misty was in town, let alone visiting with Ash in his room. And even the fourteen-year-old from Twinleaf Town hadn't known of Misty's arrival until just a few hours ago when the two girls had finally met for the first time in the lobby.

But what was even stranger than Ash and Brock's longtime friend from Cerulean City suddenly showing up was the fact that she had sprinted past the group and out of the hospital without saying a word immediately after she had awoken everyone with her screaming sobs. No one expected a long, drawn out greeting at a time like this, but Misty never even made eye contact with them before she took off towards the front doors with a desperate look on her face. What in the world could be so important that Misty would leave Ash's side- not the mention leave the hospital entirely- during what could be his final moments alive? Dawn, May, Max and Brock didn't have time to worry about where Misty had gone, however.

They hadn't had a chance to tell Delia about the redhead's appearance either because everyone froze when they noticed Nurse Joy enter the lobby with a somber look on her pink face. Instantly, a chilling feeling overtook them all.

Afraid of what Joy's news might be, May, Max and Dawn avoided eye contact with the young nurse and dropped their heads down as they sat beside each other. The girls were still trembling from when they had peered into Ash's room through the crack of the opening door and saw the panicked doctors attempting to shock the boy's failing heart back to life. The three of them heard Brock ask Nurse Joy about Ash and hoped that they wouldn't hear the news that they all feared.

"We managed to get Ash's heart beating again," the pink-haired woman explained, "but he's not conscious and he's just barely hanging on..." Nurse Joy swallowed hard before continuing to speak, "I honestly don't know if there's much more we can do for him at this point. It's umm... It's clear that Ash is suffering a great deal of pain. Uh… Ms. Ketchum, may I speak with you a moment?"

Ash's mother looked lost and terrified, but slowly stood up from her chair and timidly walked with Nurse Joy towards the front desk. The two women convened just out of earshot of the rest of the group. Brock, May, Dawn, Max and Johanna watched the two woman conversing from across the waiting room. Delia's frightened expression never left her face as Nurse Joy was doing most of the talking. After a few moments, the group saw Delia's shoulders slump down in a defeated way and her tears began to flow like water rushing through a broken dam. Joy patted the grieving woman on the back in an attempt to comfort her, but looked very uncomfortable while doing so.

Nurse Joy then left to continue to tend to Ash and her other patients. Delia tried to compose herself as she returned to where Johanna and the others were standing, but was failing. When Ash's mother made her way back to the group, no one dared to ask what the nurse had said. But after a few moments of dreadful silence, Delia sniffled deeply and cleared her throat before attempting to speak through her sobs.

"N-n-nurse Joy says if Ash's condition d-doesn't improve soon, it m-might b-be best if we… if we..." Delia paused as her lip quivered. "… take him off life-support." As soon as the words escaped her mouth, Delia buried her face in the palms of her hands and again began to bawl.

Everyone's hearts sank when they heard this. Brock, Max, May and Dawn were so used to seeing Ash overcome anything and everything he had ever encountered during his young life, and it was disconcerting, to say the least, to even think about giving up on Ash by taking him off of life support.

"I… I know Ash will come around!" Dawn said firmly, although sounding more like she was trying to convince herself of the fact. "We have to give him more time!"

"Yes, Sweetie, but just think about how much Ash is suffering," Johanna said to her daughter in a gentle tone. She was careful to choose her words wisely with Delia standing right next to her. "We all want Ash to get better, but if the doctors don't think he will recover, it might be best-"

"Don't even say it, Mom!" Dawn angrily screamed at the top her lungs, cutting her mother off before she could finish. "Ash WILL get better!"

Dawn looked over to the others, then to Delia, hoping for support. Surely Ash's own mother wouldn't be in favor of pulling the plug on Ash's life. But Dawn was flabbergasted when she saw Delia sadly shake her head.

"I t-t-told Nurse J-Joy to leave him on life-support overnight," the still-sobbing woman explained, although it was obvious that it pained her to be doing so. "But... if he h-hasn't improved by morning, and it is still clear that he won't recover… we'll pull the plug tomorrow."

"But, Ms. Ketchum?" Dawn pleaded, ignoring her mother's stern glare.

"I just can't stand the idea of Ash hurting so much, Dawn," Delia answered as she placed a hand over her heart. "I'd rather… rather let him go than see him suffer for much longer."

"I can't believe this!" Dawn was screaming maniacally now, tears welling up in her sapphire eyes. She was absolutely stunned by what she was hearing. "Ash is a fighter! He's never given up on anything in his entire life! He'd want us to let him keep fighting!"

With that, Dawn took off running out of the waiting room and through the sliding front doors to the outside, just as Misty had done over an hour ago. The rest of them could hear the girl sobbing mournfully as she ran out. They all agreed with Dawn's sentiment about Ash and his relentless will, but they also understood the logic behind Delia's decision to end her son's misery.

"I'd better go after her," Johanna said flatly, and she too started off in a jog and exited the hospital.

A nauseating feeling overtook Brock, May and Max as their worry and anxiousness about whether or not Ash would get better suddenly morphed into deep anguish and even disbelief and rage over the fact that their good friend would soon be gone… erased from their lives forever by the spiteful actions of the despicable Zak Seabrook.

No one said a word as they returned to their seats. Only the humming of the ceiling fans above them could be heard. It was a surreal feeling to say the least as they sat and waited in the artificially lit room, especially since they already knew the very grim outcome that would occur in the morning. Max and May were leaning against each other in neighboring seats, quietly crying themselves to sleep. Brock was also dozing off in a nearby chair, using his last few moments of awake-alertness to wipe a few falling tears from his cheek.

Delia was seated next to him, still audibly sobbing from the pain of giving the Nurse permission to let her son die in the morning. Hearing Nurse Joy's gloomy tone and lack of optimism earlier when they had discussed Ash's options made it hard for Delia to cling to any hope whatsoever, but as sleep overcame her as well, the weeping mother did her best to continue to keep the faith in her son's resiliency.

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_****MEANWHILE****_

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For what seemed like the millionth time that day, Misty again found herself sprinting back across the moonlit Sapphire City streets. The redheaded sixteen-year-old didn't know exactly where she was going, but one thing was for sure: The strange dream she had awoken from a little over an hour ago was definitely real. The vivid image of Ho-Oh and the other three mysterious pokémon speaking to her on some tropical island was much too powerful and lifelike to ignore. And even if it had been only a dream, what other choice did she have? She knew that if there was even a slight chance that Ash could be saved, she would do whatever it took, no matter how outlandish or desperate.

As the girl ran through the empty downtown streets past many streetlights and buildings, she realized how weird it must have appeared to Brock and the others when she had run out of the hospital like she had done after showing up completely out of the blue. The others must have thought she was crazy, but Misty couldn't help it.

Misty then thought about Dawn, the petite girl with blue eyes whom she had encountered in the waiting room just hours ago. Misty remembered Ash mentioning the girl a few years ago over the video phone once before. She knew that Dawn had been traveling with Ash during his journey through the Sinnoh Region, and had heard a lot about her, but of course the two girls had never met before tonight.

The first thing that had struck Misty about Dawn was the girl's beauty. Her long, flowing hair with shimmering purple highlights, her gorgeous twinkling blue eyes, and her seductively short pink miniskirt revealing her long and smooth legs all contributed to Dawn's breathtaking allure. Instantly, a twinge of jealousy overtook the more tomboyish and plain-looking Misty, who had spent her entire life feeling inferior to her very beauty-conscious older sisters. She hoped Dawn and Ash weren't romantically involved, but judging by how rude Dawn had been to her in the lobby and how long she and Ash had apparently been traveling together, Misty feared that they were in fact more than just friends.

Misty scolded herself instantly, however. This was not the time to be feeling any sort of feelings besides urgency. The girl re-devoted all her energy to running faster and concentrating on the very important task at hand.

In her dream, Ho-Oh had told her that she needed to find something called 'The Sacred Gift' … and judging by the panic in the doctor's voice when they had rushed into Ash's room after she had been awoken by his blaring heart monitor, Misty knew she didn't have time for jealousy. She had to act fast to find this so called gift that Ho-Oh said would save Ash. Despite the grave situation at the hospital, something in her heart was telling her that there was still a slim sliver of hope.

And so the Cerulean Gym leader ignored the pain in her lungs and forced her burning legs to continue churning. She felt her heart screaming in her chest as she sprinted in the direction of Sapphire City Stadium. Again, Misty couldn't explain it, but somehow she just knew this was where she was supposed to go, as if a voice inside her head was guiding her.

"Ash, fight it, please," Misty pleaded out loud, sounding breathless as she ran down the sidewalk. "Just hold on a little longer!"

When the girl finally reached the towering stadium, she nearly collapsed from fatigue, but again forced herself onward knowing that she didn't have much time. After a few seconds with her hands on her knees to catch her breath, Misty made her way around the stadium's perimeter until she reached the well-lit entrance to the connecting Pokémon Center.

The instant she approached the center's entrance and the automatic sliding glass doors whooshed open, a portly security guard with a black handlebar mustache, who had apparently been stationed overnight at the front, stood up from his desk and eyed the girl curiously.

"It's awfully late young lady," the man in the dark blue uniform said in a rather uncheerful tone. "Can I help you with something?"

"Uh... well, I'm a friend of Ash Ketchum's," Misty stammered. She had totally forgotten that she couldn't expect to just walk right into the stadium's private Pokémon Center without credentials proving that she wasn't just some autograph seeking fan-girl or hounding reporter.

"If you were really a friend of his, you'd know he's not here," the officer scoffed. "I don't know if you were watching the match yesterday, but the kid's at the hospital... and apparently it ain't lookin' too good for him. That's what the news has been sayin' anyway."

Misty scowled at the officer who thought she was nothing but a star-crazed groupie trying to get inside to where the world famous trainers were sleeping. This guy didn't know that the key to saving Ash Ketchum's life was inside this building. Misty wasn't exactly sure how she knew this, there was still something inside of her was telling her that the so called, 'Sacred Gift' was here.

"Look, of course I know he's in the hospital," Misty replied impatiently. "I just came from there. I'm here to pick up a few of Ash's things from his room."

The hefty security guard gave Misty a look of suspicion before shaking his head.

"Do you have any sort of formal authorization in writing from Ketchum or his family that proves you're telling the truth? If not, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"No... I don't. But... Please, sir! I'm begging you! I just need to grab something from his room and I'll be on my way."

Misty felt a wave of panic sweep over her. Her cheeks felt hot. She stepped a few feet closer to the much taller security guard and give him a sincere look of desperation. She didn't exactly what to do at this point. It was clear that the guard wasn't going to let her inside without a good reason, but what could she say? Certainly, if Misty claimed that she had had a dream that said there was some sort of magical healing object inside Ash's room, the security guard would think she was a lunatic.

"Look by looking at you, I actually don't think you're lying, but I'm not allowed to let anyone inside without proper authorization. You see, someone broke into his room earlier tonight."

"What! When?" Misty replied, shocked.

"Yeah, not too long after the kid's match, one of the custodians realized his guest room's door had been smashed in. We checked the surveillance tapes, but we couldn't get a positive ID on the suspect."

"Did they take anything? Why were they in there anyway?" the girl asked.

"As far as we can tell, nothing was missing," the guard said. "That's the weird part. Although we can't be sure, it seems that everything in the room was still there. The room was trashed... bed ransacked, dresser drawers pulled out, the kid's clothes and toiletries tossed on the floor. But nothing stolen, as weird as that is."

"So why would someone break into his room then?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, kid," the man grumbled. "But that's why I can't let you inside. Ever since the report of the break-in, we're under strict orders not to let anyone inside who isn't a registered trainer. I'm sorry, but I gotta ask you to leave."

Misty was shocked and had many more questions for the guard, but judging by his annoyed look, she knew he wouldn't be of any more help. Instead of wasting time arguing or begging, she turned and said quietly, "Thanks anyways."

Misty was beside herself over the news. For as long as she had known Ash, he had never been someone who traveled around with an extremely large amount of money or anything valuable; normally just a backpack, some clothes and supplies... and at his mother's insistence, plenty of clean underwear. So why would someone want to break into Ash's room when he had nothing to steal?

So now what? Misty pondered as she walked away from the guard. So many jumbled thoughts and emotions were buzzing around inside her head. Who had broken into Ash's room, anyway? And why? Would she still be able to find 'The Sacred Gift' in his room?

Suddenly, Misty thought of something as she walked quickly down the concrete path outside the stadium. What if whoever broke into Ash's guestroom was in fact after the same thing she was after? What if whoever broke in was searching for the same thing as Misty: the Sacred Gift?

A whole new set of worries set in for the girl. If someone else had gotten to the mysterious gift before her, then how would she save Ash? Was she pursuing a lost cause? In that case, perhaps she should return to the hospital in order to spend Ash's last moments with him. No, how could she even think that? Misty cursed herself. She couldn't give up. It was still worth a try to see if she could find something.

Not knowing where else to go, she turned and walked along the perimeter of the building past the beautifully manicured landscape outside the stadium. She knew time was of the essence, so she again started running. Surrounding the entire stadium were countless bushes, trees and grassy areas all designed to provide the lavish coliseum with some peaceful scenery.

As Misty continued along the beautifully maintained walking path, she stopped in her tracks when she heard a male voice from around the corner of the huge building. She couldn't see the source of the voice from where she stood, but she knew that someone was nearby.

"Nope, no sign of any teenage girl walking around. Everything's all clear back here," the gruff male voice announced.

Misty slowly and cautiously peeked around the corner of the concrete wall. She saw another security guard standing underneath a small flood-light which was hanging over a large metal door. If it hadn't been for the dim yellow light, the man who wore the same uniform as the guard Misty had seen at the front door, wouldn't have even been visible. Misty guessed that this door was a back entrance to the stadium since there was a security guard watching it as well.

"All right, well I'll keep my eyes peeled," the man said, speaking into his intercom, presumably to his co-worker at the front. "It does sound a little fishy, but she probably just went home."

Misty assumed the men were talking about her. It definitely did seem a little fishy that she had shown up in the middle of the night with no identification and no warning, and had asked to be granted access to Ash Ketchum's room. Still though, Misty needed to find a way inside... and fast.

She watched the security guard like a glameow waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting rattata from the shadows. After hanging up his walkie-talkie, the guard simply stood at attention right next to the door and stared off into space. Misty wondered how anyone could just stand in one place for hours at a time, but then caught herself letting her mind wander. She knew had to act quickly.

The redhead who was still hidden by the dark of night around the corner, reached into the pocket of her denim shorts. She quietly pulled out a smooth metal sphere, which grew to the size of an orange in her sweaty hand. She paused to remind herself that what she was about to do was necessary if she ever wanted to see Ash alive again. She gritted her teeth as she tossed the sphere around the corner towards the guard's feet like a grenade.

"All right, come on out, Golduck," Misty whispered as she threw the ball.

With a blinding flash of light, a blue-bodied bipedal pokémon materialized right in front of the startled security guard. The water-type duck pokémon glared somewhat menacingly at the uniformed man with its steely red eyes.

"Where did you come from?" the guard said to the pokémon before calling out much louder, assuming there had to be a human nearby. "Who's out there? Show yourself!"

Obligingly, Misty revealed herself from around the corner and stepped into the dim glow of the light. She had a rather guilty, regretful look on her delicate face. She held her arms up in the air and was careful not to make any sudden moves.

"I just got a call about you, little missy," the guard said when he recognized the redheaded girl as the one his partner had seen and called about. "You're not supposed to be back here. Now please. You and your pokémon need to go home, or I'm afraid I'll have to call the cops."

Misty shook her head sadly, but didn't respond to the security guard's request. She nervously fidgeted as she spoke in a quiet tone.

"I'm sorry I have to do this, sir," she said sincerely and paused before continuing. "Golduck, use Ice Beam."

The guard gave a shocked whimper, but couldn't do much else before the eyes belonging to Misty's golduck began to glow bright white. The single ruby-red jewel on the pokémon's forehead did the same. Suddenly, the duck pokémon thrusted both of its palms forward and shot a powerful beam of white light-energy toward the guard.

With a loud crackling sound, the beam of energy struck the man and almost instantly, his entire body became encased inside a rapidly growing block of clear ice. The officer in the blue uniform was frozen in place with his arms up shielding his horrified, motionless face. Misty stared in awe with her mouth wide open at what she had done.

"Good job, Golduck," Misty said.

The web-footed duck grunted in acknowledgment as the girl turned her attention to the heavy-looking steel door that the man had been guarding. A far cry from the maddening idiot Golduck had once been while still in its young psyduck form, it was now easily Misty's strongest and most trusted pokémon in her arsenal, willing and able to do whatever she asked of it... even if it involved breaking the law by debilitating a security officer.

The sixteen-year-old checked to make sure the security guard was not going to be able to escape and then walked towards the door. She pounded on it. It definitely felt at least as heavy as it looked. It was as solid as a brick wall.

Becoming more desperate by the second, Misty tried fiddling around with the large electronic keypad on the wall next to the door. But it was no use, no matter which buttons she punched, the door didn't budge. She realized she wasn't going to be able to finesse her way into the stadium so she took a deep breath and turned to Golduck once again.

"Golduck, I need a little help here," she said in a regretful tone.

Obediently, the water-type creature reared back its glowing fist and struck the huge metal door with very loud clanging sound. Like a sheet of aluminum foil, the door crumpled and broke off of its hinges. A loud thud followed when it dropped to the floor, revealing the dark entrance behind it.

After thanking Golduck and returning it to its pokéball, Misty once again took off running through the newly unlocked entrance and disappeared inside in search of the mysterious 'Sacred Gift.'

Misty found it odd that as she ran down the dark hallways of the stadium's underbelly and got closer to where Ash's guestroom was, the warm feeling of hope intensified inside her belly. She knew in her heart that Ash was still holding on. She couldn't explain the odd feeling inside her stomach, but the girl could feel that her friend was still with her and that she should continue on. It wasn't too late yet. The strangely warm feeling inspired her to keep going.

Eventually, Misty found herself in the center's dark front lobby. It sure looked different without the mob of reporters and fans crowding the floor, but the extremely bright light caused by the combination of the crescent moon along with the Millennium Supernova trickled inside through the windows and helped Misty recognize where she was. She stood at the spot where she had seen Ash talking to reporters following his match with Miss Lacey a few days ago. At that point, she had gotten spooked and ran away when she thought she had seen Ash spot her from across the room. As she stood in the darkened lobby, Misty thought about how she would give anything to have that chance back... to have Ash back.

The sense of urgency returned to Misty and she again took off running across the lacquered floors of the lobby towards the trainers' guestrooms. By now, she was used to the tight feeling in her chest caused by all the running she had been doing. It was easy now to ignore the pain.

When the teen got to the long carpeted hallway, she immediately saw that one of the doors' frame had been broken and stood open. Misty assumed that this was Ash's room.

Misty walked up, pushed the door open and slowly walked into the open room. She reached over to her right upon entering and flipped on the light switch. Just as the security guard out front had said, the entire room was in disarray. The bed's mattress was on the floor, as were all of the sheets, pillow and blankets. All of dress and the nightstand's drawers were wide open. Ash's spare clothing littered the floor as well.

For probably ten minutes or so, Misty tore through the room like a manic searching for any shred of a clue. She had no idea what the Sacred Gift even looked like, so she searched for anything out of the ordinary. After a while, the warm hopeful feeling seemed to have disappeared.

The chilling realization that whatever she had been looking for wasn't anywhere here made the girl shiver. Tears returned to her eyes as she realized that she had no choice but to return to the hospital empty handed. Her one and only last hope had turned out to be as foolish as it had seemed on the surface.

Sobbing by now, she collapsed to her knees near the guestroom's window.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Ash. I've failed you."

* * *

_*****SEVERAL HOURS LATER*****_

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As the sun just began to rise over Sapphire City's horizon, flooding Ash's hospital room with a faint mixture of yellow and purple light, Misty began to stir in the chair next to Ash's bed where she had slept for the past few hours.

Misty- who had been devastated when she returned to the hospital about an hour after her strange exit- opened her eyes slowly and yawned. She had been dreading the morning when she feared she would lose Ash forever. She still felt amazing guilt over not succeeding in her search for the Sacred Gift.

The redhead had returned to the hospital a few hours ago and had thankfully found everyone asleep in the waiting room. At that point, she really hadn't felt like explaining why she had run out like that. And she also hadn't felt like dealing with the awkward reunion with Brock and the others at a time like this. She had tiptoed back into Ash's room, where she returned to her spot on the metal folding chair next to his bed, which is where she now awoke.

She hadn't slept very much last night for obvious reasons. She spent most of the wee hours of the morning after her trip to Sapphire Stadium just sitting in the dark and thinking about Ash and how devastating it would be to lose him permanently and how she failed him. And even when Misty had finally managed to fall asleep, she had been tormented by dreams – but this time, there were no Guardians or tropical islands. Only tormenting nightmares of attending Ash's funeral and the lonely, miserable life she would continue to lead without him.

Those nightmares must have been causing Misty to moan in her sleep because she awoke to a worried voice calling him name.

"Misty? Misty, is that you?" a weak voice from the bed called out to her.

Still groggy, Misty's vision was still a little blurry, and she could only respond with a sleepy groan from her chair.

"Misty!" the strained voice called out again, a little stronger this time.

Finally the girl lifted her head up and looked over to the bed.

And there, looking back at her from not more than five feet away, were those gorgeous brown eyes that she had been yearning to see ever since she had taken over the Cerulean Gym Leader position full-time more than five years ago. They still looked incredibly tired and had dark purple bags underneath them, but were beautiful nonetheless.

It was Ash! Awake, if not completely alert, although still looking very weak and in pain sitting up in his bed.

Misty was beyond stunned. She tried to speak, but no words could escape her throat. All she could do was stare blankly back at the boy whom she had not seen in person in over two years. She was sure this had to be a dream, although she felt like she was wide awake from the shock of seeing him.

"Misty, are you all right?" Ash asked when she didn't speak.

"Ash?" Misty's eyes were wide as she shot up out of her chair and ran over the bedside. "You're awake!"

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_Alright, that was Chapter 11. Please write a REVIEW! Please :)_


	13. Chapter Twelve: Awakening

_Here is Chapter 12! Please COMMENT/REVIEW! It doesn't take long to leave your opinions about the story! Feedback is much appreciated!

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**CHAPTER TWELVE: AWAKENING**

by Legacy

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As she gazed into the boy's beautiful brown eyes from her chair, Misty felt a tingle of excitement and utter disbelief creep up her spine. The girl tried to speak, but no words were able to escape her lips. All she could do was stare blankly back at the amazing boy whom she had not seen in person in several years. The copper-haired teen still couldn't believe that she was actually here, finally sitting face-to-face with her best friend in the world. It was really Ash! He was awake, if not completely alert, although still looking very weak and in pain sitting up in his bed.

"Misty, are you all right?" Ash whispered in a raspy tone when she didn't speak.

"Oh, Ash!" Misty shouted out as soon as she heard the boy's voice.

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently as if trying to make sure that this was indeed reality. Instantly upon doing so, however, she felt a strange object that he had apparently been clutching. A small gold coin fell from his hand into Misty's, and she was surprised to find out that the smooth metal disk actually felt warm to the touch. As she carefully examined the beautiful golden coin more closely, she gasped when she realized what this strange object must be.

"Misty..." Ash's weak voice interrupted her thoughts however.

"Yea, what is it Ash?" she replied, gently placing the coin back into Ash's hand.

"How... how did you know?" the boy murmured with his eyes still barely half-open. He opened his loose fist to reveal the golden, jewel-incrusted coin in his palm as he spoke.

Misty figured she knew what Ash was talking about, but she didn't mention anything about her unbelievable dream, the mysterious Four Guardians speaking to her, or the robbery of Ash's guestroom at the stadium Pokémon Center. She was just overjoyed to see her friend alive and well with what she supposed was the 'Sacred Gift' safely in his hand. Misty didn't reply to the boy's question.

She had no idea how the coin had made it to Ash after all this. Something about her dream had led her to believe that the 'Sacred Gift' was located in the Pokémon Center, but perhaps she had been wrong. It was just all too overwhelming to think about right now. She just smiled brightly down at him, tears beginning to form in her eyes. All that mattered right now was that he wasn't dead.

"Thank you... Misty," Ash said with a faint smile after a few moments of silence.

It was a huge relief for girl when she saw that the familiar twinkle in Ash Ketchum's chocolate-brown eyes had returned. She took the boy's free hand with her's once again, and it was an indescribably great feeling when she felt Ash's hand squeeze her hand in return. Her tears had begun to flow freely down her cheek at this point.

Amidst all the commotion, Pikachu awoke from his spot on the bed as well, slowly opening its beady black eyes.

"Pi?"

The furry rodent saw Misty, but looked more confused than happy. Perhaps he also thought it all to be nothing but a dream. But after a few moments, Pikachu came to and glanced up at Ash then back over towards Misty. A look of pure joy overcame the little pokémon, who instantly leaped up to his feet.

"Pikapi! Pikachupi!" Pikachu shrieked and jumped up and down excitedly on the bed. He didn't know whether to tackle Ash in jubilation over him finally waking up or to jump up into Misty's arms to greet her after all the time that had passed since he had last seen her.

Ash gave a slight chuckle that sounded more like a sleepy, dry cough. "Everything's gonna be okay, Pikachu... Misty's here now..."

Tears of joy and relief continued to fall from Misty's eyes as she gazed down gratefully at him. Ash smiled weakly back up at Misty, still looking like he was on the verge of falling back asleep. Finally, his eyes began to slowly disappear underneath their drooping lids, but the look in them seemed to comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be all right. Misty didn't dare wake Ash back up, but she smiled again as she caressed his forehead gently, brushing aside some of his soft black locks of slightly sweat-dampened hair. She bent down and gently kissed the boy on the cheek. Then she turned and ran excitedly out of the room in inform Nurse Joy with Pikachu scampering close behind.

A few moments later, Joy came rushing back into Ash's room with Misty and Pikachu following close behind, all three of their faces noticeably brighter with optimism. The pink-haired nurse quickly gauged the heart monitors and checked Ash's other vital signs. She looked over to Misty with a look of utter amazement on her face.

"It's unbelievable! All of his vitals have steadied and are nearing normal levels! It-it's a miracle!" Nurse Joy exclaimed, looking both ecstatic and astounded at the same time.

Joy summoned the team of doctors into Ash's room to run more precautionary tests, and Misty, who was holding a very happy Pikachu in her arms, walked out into the waiting area to let Delia Ketchum know the wonderful news. Delia was still asleep in one of the waiting room's hard metal chairs, leaning awkwardly against the window.

Misty couldn't stand seeing Ash's mother suffer like this, so she wasted no time in walking right up to her, and woke her up with a soft tap on the shoulder. Pikachu jumped down from Misty's arms into Delia's lap. The woman opened her brown eyes and looked at Misty groggily just as her son had done minutes ago.

"Hi, Ms. Ketchum," Misty said to the woman quietly. Seeing Ash's kind-hearted mother caused the teen to smile.

"Misty?" Ash's mother muttered, clearly still half-asleep. She instinctively started stroking Pikachu's soft furry head.

"Yep. It's me. How are you?"

The question must have woken Delia up because she instantly sobered and shot up out of her chair with a terrified look on her face when she realized where she was. Pikachu fell to the floor, but didn't seem to care in the slightest. Ash's mother was clearly shocked to see Misty, whom she hadn't seen in years, standing over her, but was obviously too worried about her son to comment.

"What time is it? Ash! Is he...?" the woman stammered wildly as she started off towards the front desk to find Nurse Joy.

"Ms. Ketchum! Wait!," Misty said, placing a hand on Delia's shoulder to guide her back to her seat. "Ash is going to be fine! He's awake!"

"Pika Pika!" the pokémon agreed joyously with a few triumphant sparks from his cheeks.

Delia went silent instantly and stared suspiciously back at the girl as if she thought she hadn't heard her correctly.

"What?" the woman asked, her eyes bulging.

Misty just nodded happily and gave Ash's mother a huge bear hug. The two women embraced while the yellow mouse jumped up and down happily at their heels.

"My baby is going to be all right!" Delia was bawling out of relief, clutching Misty in the tightest hug she had ever encountered, but of course the redhead didn't mind in the least. She was ecstatic.

"Oh my god, what happened! Is Ash still alive?" Dawn screamed as she ran up to the crying Delia with May, Brock, Max and Johanna running behind her. A look of dread was on each of their tired faces.

Misty smiled wide when she saw Brock, May and Max. She didn't care when she saw all three of them look at her like she was crazy for smiling.

"Ash condition have dramatically improved," Misty spoke up since Delia was still too overcome with joy to explain her crying. Everyone looked shocked at first, but once again they saw Nurse Joy make her way into the waiting area. When the group saw the young nurse running towards them with a huge smile on her face, it was clear that Misty was indeed telling the truth.

"It's a miracle! I can't believe it!" was all Nurse Joy could utter over and over.

An unmistakable look of relief overcame everyone's face. Dawn and May hugged each other, and Delia continued to cry happily on Johanna's shoulder, obviously extremely relieved that her son's condition had improved so drastically. No one seemed to care about how strange or miraculous his improvement had been, and Misty was thankful for that. The important thing was that Ash was going to survive.

After the group's initial celebration, Brock walked over and gave Misty a hug and a friendly grin.

"It's great to see you, Misty," he said, sounding like he truly meant it. "It's been _way_too long."

"Yes, it has," Misty replied in a very heartfelt tone, her chin resting on Brock's shoulder. She started to cry yet again as she pulled away from her longtime friend's embrace.

The emotional roller-coaster that she had endured over the past few weeks had been really tough on her. The crippling depression during her time alone in the gym, the feeling of warm hope she felt when she had seen Ash's face on television the night before the tournament had started, the apprehension of approaching Ash in the Pokémon Center's lobby following his match against Lacey, the sheer terror at the fact that he might die, and finally, the pure and unadulterated joy of feeling Ash's hand gently squeeze her own and seeing his big, brown eyes staring up at her just minutes ago... They had all taken their toll on Misty.

"Hey, Misty!" May greeted her. "I haven't see you in a long time! How are you?"

"Yeah, what has it been? Like four years?" Misty gave the brown-haired teenager a hug. "And to answer your question, I'm a lot better now that I know Ash is going to make it!"

"You can say that again!" Max followed behind his sister to greet Misty. "Hi, Miss Misty. Remember me?"

"How could I forget you, Max? Gosh, you look so grown-up!" Misty ruffled Max's teal hair and smiled.

Max blushed a deep crimson and boasted, "Yeah, I'm eleven now… I'm gonna be just like Ash… I'm gonna be in this tournament some day!"

"I don't doubt it for a minute, Max," Misty said with a giggle. "And I'll be waiting when you finally make it to Kanto and the Cerulean City Gym!"

Max's eyes grew big when he remembered that Misty was a gym leader. He blushed again at his bravado, "Yeah, well… I still got a lot of training to do before I could ever beat a gym leader as good as _**you**_, Misty."

Johanna then walked up to Misty and extended her hand, smiling as well. "Hello, Misty. My name is Johanna. You must be quite the good-luck charm, young lady! Ash's chances didn't look very good all day yesterday… then you show up, and he gets better, just like that!"

Misty smiled and shook Johanna's hand politely, but didn't know how to respond. She was about to speak when she was interrupted.

"Humph!" Dawn came sauntering up and looked Misty coldly in the eye. She had recognized her right away from all Ash had told her about Misty and from that stupid fishing lure (which was a gift from her) that he still kept with him even to this day.

"So where'd you run off to last night, Misty?" Dawn blurted out in a sour tone.

The others turned their attention to Dawn. Johanna gave her daughter a glare, but no one said anything. Misty took that to mean that everyone was indeed curious about where she had run off to late last night.

"Uh… yeah, sorry I ran off without saying anything last night, guys..." Misty said, a little unsure of what to say. "I got in late last night, and when I saw Ash... just lying there, I guess... I guess I just freaked out."

"That's totally understandable, Misty," Dawn's mother said reassuringly.

"Yeah, I wanted to run away too when I saw the doctors working on him with all the machines going off like that," May admitted.

"So where have you been?" Dawn again interrupted in a demanding tone of voice, ignoring a growl from her mother. "If you're as great a friend as Ash always makes you out to be, how come you didn't get here till last night? How come you weren't here to watch him compete? How come you haven't even spoken to him in years?"

"Dawn, that's quite enough!" Johanna shouted and grabbed her daughter by the arm.

"Pi-kah! Pi-kah!" Pikachu agreed, jumping up into Misty's arms as if to defend her from Dawn's berating.

"Well, I just want to know why it took her all this time to bother to come see Ash in the hospital." Dawn turned to Misty. "I _saw_you at the stadium and in the lobby spying on Ash after he lost to Lacey, so I know you were in town! So if you were as concerned about him as you say you are… how come it took you until last night to bother to come and see him?"

Misty was speechless. She didn't want to admit that she had been terrified to face Ash after all the time had passed since she had last seen him. She didn't want to say that the reason that didn't come see him right away was simply because she was scared. She didn't want to go into the long history she and Ash had together and how she felt miserable day after day in her dark, lonely gym without him.

"Well?" Dawn said impatiently.

Misty was still struggling to come up with a suitable response when one of the doctors dressed in blue scrubs came out into the waiting room and interrupted the tension.

"It looks like Ash is going to make a full recovery," he said with a smile. "I've never seen or heard of anyone make as quick of a recovery as this from multiple gunshot wounds so close to his heart… truly remarkable."

"Can we go see him?" Dawn said excitedly, apparently forgetting about her interrogation of Misty.

"Yes, you may," the doctor replied. "But please be quiet. Ash is resting comfortably now… he needs his sleep."

"But hasn't he been sleeping this _**whole **_time?" Max asked.

May punched her brother in the shoulder and told him to be quiet as the entire group followed the doctor back to Ash's room.

"Yes, he has," the doctor chuckled a little at Max's question as they walked. "But now that his heart and other organs have begun to function normally again, his body needs a chance to heal. Remember, Ash sustained some pretty serious injuries."

When the group got to the room, everyone took comfort in the fact that most of the breathing, feeding and other tubes that had been protruding out of Ash's face and body were now gone except for a small IV in his arm. Everyone noticed too, that his face didn't look so pale and strained; the color had returned to his cheeks, and he no longer looked in pain. Instead, the boy looked very much at peace, and even had a very slight smile curved across his face as he slept.

Delia rushed over to the bedside still crying, apparently upset over her own lack of faith in her son's ability to recover. "Oh, Ash… I should have never doubted you! I should have known you would pull through… you always do! Please… please, forgive me!"

Johanna once again served as Ms. Ketchum's comfort. "Delia, it's not your fault! You were just doing what you thought was best for Ash at the time… But now he's going to be all right! We don't have to worry about life support anymore!"

Brock walked up to Ash's bed as well and whispered, "Way to go, Ash."

May and Max stood next to Brock looking down thankfully at their friend. "I _knew_he would make it. I just _knew_it," Max said in admiration of his hero.

"Oh, Ash," May bent down close to Ash's ear as she whispered. "You had us all so worried. I… I don't know what I would have done if you would have…" Her voice broke before she could even finish the sentence.

"I'm going to stay with him until he wakes up." Dawn announced as she nearly shoved May out of the way and knelt down beside Ash's bed. She was glaring at Misty in particular as she spoke.

"That might not be for a few days," the doctor replied.

"I-Don't-Care. I'm _**not **_leaving his side."

No one in the room argued with Dawn. Misty didn't respond despite the twinge of jealousy she felt when she heard the girl. This was no time to fight, she thought. Besides, Misty figured that she had been away from Ash for so long, what right did she have to interfere with his and Dawn's obviously close friendship?

In seeing Dawn act so protective of Ash, Misty saw some of herself in the pretty blue-eyed girl. Although the Dawn had been rude to her before, she sympathized greatly with how she must be feeling. Misty knew Dawn had been traveling all around the world with Ash for a long time now, and Misty knew better than anyone how special that was.

The sixteen-year-old just smiled sincerely back at Dawn, who was still piercing her with her cold stare, and turned to leave the room and returned to the lobby without a word. It was hard to simply ignore the girl's harshness, but Misty just focused on the words Ash had said to her in that brief moment when he had awoken earlier.

**"**_**Everything's gonna be okay, Pikachu… Misty's here now."**_

She took comfort in the fact that Ash had sounded so happy to see her, so relieved that she had returned to him. She would always remember the sparkling look of happiness in Ash's eyes when he finally woke up and saw her, even if he forgot once he woke up. And Dawn could never take this feeling away from her.

"Misty, are you all right?" She heard a voice from behind her in the waiting room. It was Brock, who had a look of concern on his face.

"Yes, I'm actually a lot better now than I have been in a long time, Brock," Misty replied truthfully.

"You know, Dawn really is a nice person once you get to know her," Brock said. He apparently sensed the tension between the two girls back in Ash's room.

"Oh, I don't blame her at all. I probably would have acted the same way if I was in her shoes. I mean, I've been gone all this time, and she and Ash obviously are very close." Misty tried to keep from sounding sad, but failed.

"They are," Brock said quietly. "But I know Ash never forgot about you even after all this time, Misty. He still talks about you, he still brings up all the great times you and him shared together, and he still carries around that lure you gave him. I know he _**really**_ misses you."

"Thanks Brock." Misty wiped a tear away with the back of her hand and grinned. "I've missed him too… I've missed all of you."

"Then… where are you going?" Brock noticed Misty was advancing towards the front door as they spoke.

"Well, Dawn seems like she's got everything taken care of," Misty said with only a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "And now that Ash is going to be okay, I think it might be best if I get back to the hotel and pack up my stuff to go back home. It's clear that Ash is well taken care of."

"But Misty…"

"Dawn's right, Brock. I haven't acted like a very good friend to Ash lately. I mean, it was my fault that the two of us drifted apart over the years… and when I heard he was going to be in this tournament… I should have been here right away to cheer him on with the rest of you! Seriously, what kind of friend am I?"

"Misty! You can't blame yourself! Please… Ash will want to see you when he wakes up," Brock insisted.

"Well, I appreciate you saying that… but it's clear that Ash has been succeeding just fine without me… It's clear that he's better off without me tagging along… holding him back."

And with a forced smile, Misty turned and exited the hospital. Brock thought about running after her, but he knew Misty well, and she was not the type of person to change her mind easily once she had made it up. So Brock regretfully returned to Ash's room to join the others.

**_

* * *

_**

For the next couple of days, Dawn stayed true to her promise. She didn't leave Ash's side for even a minute. During the daylight hours she read to him and talked to him like nothing had happened at all. She talked about the new strategies and combinations that she planned to use in her next contest and kept Ash updated on the latest big coordinator news even though he couldn't hear or respond. At night, Dawn would rest her head gently on Ash's shoulder and fall asleep with him, taking comfort in hearing and feeling his steady heartbeat.

On the third morning since Misty had left, Dawn awoke to someone gently playing her hair. She suspected that it was Pikachu, but when she lifted her head up and opened her sleepy eyes, she nearly screamed.

"Ash! You're awake!"

Ash was smiling back at her, although still looking weak.

"Misty?" Ash's voice squeaked, his eyes only half open.

Dawn's excitement dropped slightly when she heard Ash. "Uh… no… It's me. Dawn."

"Oh… Dawn." Ash croaky voice sounded somewhat disappointed, but Dawn told herself that it was just due to his weakened state. "Where… where's Misty?"

"She's not here, Ash. But I'm here. Everything's going to be all right!"

Ash opened his mouth to speak, but he began to cough dryly. Dawn rushed over to the nightstand on the other side of Ash's bed, poured a glass full of water, and helped Ash drink through the straw. It seemed like the refreshing drink rejuvenated him slightly.

"Aah. Thanks, Dawn."

"Oh, Ash! I'm so glad you're okay!" Dawn flung her arms around Ash's neck and embraced him.

"Yeah… what happened? Where am I?" Ash looked around the room, clearly confused as he awkwardly tried to return Dawn's hug.

"You don't remember?"

Ash blinked, looking like he was trying to think. "I remember… pain."

Dawn's face fell. She had hoped that Ash wouldn't remember anything about the gruesome attack that he had endured or any of the horrid pain he must have felt. Ash must have noticed the girl's concern because he spoke again quickly.

"But I feel a lot better now… No need to worry!" Ash smiled.

"Oh Ash… we almost… almost lost you," Dawn sniffled.

"What hospital is this? Where are we?" the boy asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

"We're in Sapphire City, Ash. Sapphire City Medical Center."

"Sapphire City! I totally forgot! The tournament! I remember now… Zak Seabrook! I can't… I can't believe that son of a b-" Ash stopped instantly and started cough again. He winced in pain as he grabbed his chest.

"Ash! Don't worry about that now!" Dawn stood up, ready to run and get Nurse Joy if need be. "Are you sure you feel okay?"

"I'm okay. I'm okay," Ash reassured her after a few moments of teeth gritting and wincing. "What about you, Dawn?"

"Me? What about me?"

"You just look like you haven't slept in a while, Dawn. Maybe you should try to get some rest."

Dawn felt the wetness beginning to form in her eyes once again. She felt like she was going to melt. Here Ash was, barely cheating death, and he was still more worried about his friends more so than himself. Before Dawn could insist that she was fine, Nurse Joy entered the room and did a double take when she saw Ash.

"Ash! You're awake!" She ran up to him as if she could hardly believe it. She instantly whipped out her thermometer and stethoscope and began checking on him.

"Yeah… when can I get out of here, Nurse Joy?" Ash looked a little uncomfortable at being poked and prodded by the nurse. "I have a battle to get ready for."

"You can't leave until you've regained your strength, young man." Joy gave Ash a stern look. "You suffered some very serious injuries, and we've got to make sure that there won't be any further complications before we release you. Besides, it's probably not a very good idea for you to do anything as stressful as battling for at least a few months."

"A few months!" Ash argued. "No way! I beat Zak! I'm in the second round!"

Nurse Joy sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. She had heard about how stubborn this kid could be from those who had met him before.

"Look honey," the young woman said, seeing that she wasn't going to win in an argument with this kid. "The second stage of the tournament doesn't begin for a few days. I'll tell you what. I'm not making any promises, but if you agree to settle down and relax, I'll have the doctors take another look at you then. If they think you are well enough to go out there, well..."

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" Ash said happily, knowing that was as good as he was going to get from her. "I know it'll be okay. I feel fine right now... I am kind of hungry though." And right on cue, Ash's stomach began to growl loudly.

Dawn and Nurse Joy laughed as Brock, May, Max, Johanna, and Delia came bursting into the room. Delia pushed past everyone and almost flattened Ash when she hugged him, crying uncontrollably once again.

"Aaaaaaaaash!" she sobbed. "Ooh! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She was screaming to no one in particular. "Everything's going to be fine now, baby!"

"Mooom!" Ash hissed at her as he blushed and tried to free himself from his mother's grasp. "I'm okay!"

Delia finally let go of her son, gave him a final once over to make sure he was indeed okay. Then she wiped her tears and promptly went over to Nurse Joy to presumably discuss Ash's treatment.

"Pikapi!" Pikcahu cried and jumped from May's arms to Ash's and began to vigorously lick his face.

"Pikachu!" Ash laughed and the two friends embraced for a long time. "I'm glad you're okay buddy!"

"Hey! You gave us quite a scare, Ash. Welcome back." Brock slapped Ash happily on the back.

"Thanks, Brock," Ash said, then lowered his voice a little so Nurse Joy wouldn't hear from across the room. "I don't suppose you could whip up a little breakfast, could you? This IV just isn't cutting it."

Brock and the others just laughed.

The joyful celebration lasted all morning. Delia spent most of that time crying, but after a while even she managed to pull herself together long enough to enjoy everyone else's company. Ash finally managed to convince Nurse Joy to bring him some solid food, and even though all he got was a cup of pudding and some dry toast, he was grateful. Grateful to be eating. Grateful for his awesome friends. Grateful to be alive.

* * *

At around noon, when Ash's friends had gone to lunch, Nurse Joy came into the teenager's room and informed him that he had a couple of visitors. He didn't know who it could be since everyone he knew in town was together getting food. He nodded and for Joy to let his visitors in, and he nearly wet himself when he saw who had come to see him.

Two men marched into the room. The first looked to be in his mid-forties or early fifties. He had black hair with streaks of silver, which was combed neatly into a side-part. He was wearing an official-looking black business suit. He smiled at Ash when he came in.

"Ah, Mr. Ketchum. So good to see that you are up and in good spirits, my boy! Everyone who saw the incident was very worried that you would no longer be with us."

Ash politely thanked the man, but of the two visitors, he certainly wasn't the one who had caught the boy's attention.

"Oh, where are my manners?" the man said and extended his hand towards Ash. "My name is Nigel Hawthorne, president of the Pokémon League… and I presume you know who this gentleman with me is."

Ash nodded vigorously. Did he ever. The other man standing next to Mr. Hawthorne, who was much younger and taller, had an unmistakable mop of red fiery red hair, intense brown eyes, and a strong angular face. The sleek black and red track suit that fit loosely around his stoic frame, accentuated his hair.

"I sure do!" Ash said, sounding extremely starstruck. "Hi, Lance!"

Lance, the defending champion of the Pokémon World Champions League, smiled back brightly at the boy. For Ash, it was very surreal and exciting to see one of the most famous pokémon trainers in the entire world standing here only a few feet away from his hospital bed. The Dragon Master of Blackthorn City, as he was called by his fans, had a definite aura of power and invincibility about him, probably due to the many epic battles Ash had seen him win over the years on television, including the championship match of this very tournament four years ago.

"Great to see you, Ash! You're looking well!" Lance said, extending his hand to shake the boy's.

"Thanks. You too."

"Pi-Kah-Chu!" Pikachu greeted Lance from the bed as well.

"It's great to see you too, Pikachu," Lance said and gently scratched the small electric rodent behind the ears.

Ash and Pikachu had first met Lance over five years ago at the Lake of Rage during their journey through Mahogany Town of the Johto Region. Back then, Team Rocket had invaded the lake to investigate the mysterious properties of the 'Red Gyarados' which lived in the middle of the lake. Their goal was to capture the gyarados in order to learn how to force pokémon to evolve. Lance was able to thwart Team Rocket's plans (with a little help from Ash, Misty and Brock), and he eventually captured the Red Gyarados, which was now one of the strongest pokémon in his arsenal.

Since then, Lance had joined the illustrious and mysterious Pokémon G-men organization and also somehow found time to become the best pokémon trainer in the world, according to many experts. He had become world famous four years ago when he won the champions league tournament, but Lance had been Ash's idol ever since the two had met.

"So, Ash," Nigel Hawthorne said after a few minutes of pleasantries. "You're probably wondering why we're here."

Ash nodded. He was still too excited to see Lance to care about what Nigel was talking about, but he forced himself to try to pay attention.

"Well, Lance and I wanted to come see how you were doing. We were so relieved to hear today that you had pulled through. And the both of us wanted to come and personally let you know who your second round opponent will be."

This caught the boy's interest. It felt like an eternity since he and Pikachu had narrowly defeated Zak Seabrook, ensuring their spot in the second phase of the Pokémon World Champions League Tournament.

"Who? Who am I going up against?" Ash demanded, hoisting himself up in bed with his arms.

Lance and Nigel just chuckled to themselves, apparently amused by the boy's youthful exuberance.

"Yours truly," Lance said with a wink.

Ash's eyes bulged almost as big as tennis balls. "I'm facing… _you_, Lance?"

"That's right, my boy," Hawthorne replied with a chuckle. "With all you've been through, we thought we would come and personally give you the news before it's announced tonight on television."

"Yeah, with how impressively you have battled in this tournament so far, I'm really excited that we drew each other in the second round, Ash," Lance said.

"Yes, the media is going to eat this up!" Nigel cheered. "The Defending Champion versus the Young Phenom!"

Ash remained silent for a while as he scratched Pikachu behind the ears. He was obviously trying to soak in the idea of going up against his childhood idol on the biggest stage in the world. After a few moments, Nurse Joy's voice interrupted his thoughts, speaking in a firm tone of voice.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, but like I've explained to Ash, he is still recovering from the massive damage that his body endured only a few days ago. Now, I know how important this competition is to a trainer, but it's my job to be concerned about what's best for the boy's health... and I'm not sure that battling so soon is the best idea."

"Of course, Nurse Joy," Hawthorne replied respectfully. "In the end, the decision will be up to the doctors and Ash himself. We are simply informing him of the draw. The boy's health is the number one priority, and if Ash isn't cleared to battle, Lance would win by default."

"But, I'd much rather battle against you, Ash," Lance said hopefully. "You're a passionate trainer who clearly has a special relationship with all of his pokémon, and I think it would be an incredible match!"

"Indeed it would," Nigel agreed wholeheartedly. "But like Nurse Joy says, it all depends on your health, young man."

"I feel fine..." Ash said, looking at Nurse Joy pleadingly.

"Well, the match won't be for a few days," Lance said. "Just concentrate on resting up and getting better for now."

Ash nodded and thanked Nigel and Lance for visiting and letting him know about the tournament. The two distinguished men again shook the boy's hand before being escorted out by Nurse Joy. And so the fifteen-year-old from Pallet Town was left to sit and think about how much this battle against Lance would mean to him. It would be a chance to measure his skills against the very best in the entire world, a chance to see just how far he had come since that fateful day nearly six years ago when he had first left his home of Pallet Town to begin his journey to become a Pokémon Master.

As the evening passed, Ash was getting more and more pumped to battle against his hero. He told his friends right away after they returned from lunch. Dawn and May were certainly proud and in agreement that Ash deserved the chance to battle Lance, but tended to agree more with Nurse Joy that it might be in his best interest to stay off of his feet.

Delia was adamant that he should not even consider battling so soon after his ordeal.

"Absolutely not, honey! You need to stay in bed for at least a month! Maybe three months!" she said more than a few times.

Ash just rolled his eyes at this. He appreciated his mother, but it annoyed him that she didn't understand at all how much this particular battle would mean to him. Brock and Max, however, were both totally on board with Ash competing against Lance. The very idea of the two talented trainers doing battle excited Max to the point of screaming and jumping all around the hospital room.

_"Oh man! Ash against Lance! No way!"  
"Ash… which pokémon do you think you'll use against Lance's dragon-types?"  
"Ash, is it true that you helped Lance defeat Team Rocket at the Lake of Rage?"  
"Ash! You actually saw Lance capture that Red Gyarados?"_

These and many other hyperactive questions and comments came out of Max's mouth at a million miles a second as he bounced excitedly around the room.

"Pikah!" Pikachu looked equally thrilled as it was jumping around along with Max.

Even Brock, who was normally the sensible one of the group who always erred on the side of caution, couldn't help but get excited over the idea of Ash battling the world champion, although he didn't show his emotions as plainly as Max did.

"Max! Settle down!" May grabbed her brother by the arm. "Ash has to focus on getting better before he can even think about battling!"

"But, May… Ash is fine! And after all, the pokémon do most of the work, don't they?" Max argued.

Ash just laughed at Max's exuberance. It reminded him a lot of himself at that age.

When nightfall came and Ash raised his arms up in the air, stretching while he yawned, his friends took that as a hint that they should leave him to rest. Pikachu had already fallen asleep at the foot of his trainer's bed and was snoring peacefully.

"Well, maybe we should get back to the hotel," May suggested when she saw him showing signs of sleepiness.

"Yeah, you need your sleep, Ash," Brock agreed. He added, "Guess what? Nurse Joy said that I could make you my famous pancakes with maple syrup tomorrow for breakfast!"

Normally news like that would have excited Ash to the point of shouting or doing cartwheels. Besides pokémon battles, food was his favorite thing in the world. But May, Max, Dawn and Brock stared at Ash with a confused look when he failed to respond.

"I gotta tell you guys something," the boy said finally, looking very serious. He craned his neck to check to see if his mother was still out of the room talking to the doctors.

"What is it? Are you feeling okay, Ash?" Dawn replied instantly, looking worried.

Ash rolled his eyes a bit. "Yes, I'm fine Dawn. That's just it. I got shot multiple times in the chest, and all I've been hearing from everyone around here is how big of a miracle it is that I'm still alive," he said thoughtfully. "Aren't any of you just the slightest bit curious about how I was able to recover so fast?"

Everyone in the room remained silent, unsure of what their friend was getting at.

"I guess we hadn't thought about that, no," Dawn finally said, sounding puzzled. "The only thing that matters is that you are okay. What are you getting at, Ash?"

The boy opened his clenched fist to reveal the small gold coin. Its shiny metal surface glimmered in the room's light, as did the five gemstones attached to it.

"What's that? Oh! It's your little good luck charm from your first battle," Max observed when he saw what Ash was holding.

"Oh yeah, I remember you showing us that. It sure is pretty," May added. "What about it, Ash?"

Ash exhaled deeply, knowing full well what he was about to say would sound utterly preposterous to all his friends. Regardless, he told Dawn, May, Max and Brock about his previous meeting with the intoxicated Zak Seabrook... the first encounter outside the Pokémon Center in the middle of the night, when his Tentacruel had struck Ash with a deadly Hyperbeam. He also told them about how this strange coin had somehow revived him from death.

"So, you see... I think this coin saved my life this time too. It healed me," Ash said.

"Ash, are you sure?" Brock asked, sounding unconvinced.

"How else can you explain it?"

"So what _is_ that thing? You said it helped you win the battle against Ethan... and now we find out it heals people?" Max said.

"Yeah, it's crazy, but I didn't even use the coin when I beat Zak. I remember, I left the coin in my room. I wanted to beat that guy by myself."

"Okay... but then how did it heal you if you left it at the Pokémon Center?" Dawn asked. "You certainly didn't grab it after the match with Zak."

"Someone must have brought it to him here," May concluded.

"Yeah... but who?"

Ash suddenly whipped his head forward and his eyes got huge as if he'd just remembered something.

"Misty! Where's Misty? I know she was here!" He looked over at his friends who looked bewildered. "I saw her here before, right in this room! At least… I think I did."

Brock spoke up before Dawn could object.

"Yeah, Misty was here, Ash. She was really worried about you… she was the one who saw you first wake up. But…" Brock paused. "But, she had to get back to the gym. She felt really bad that she had to leave… but she said she'd be watching and rooting for you against Lance!"

Dawn elbowed Brock hard in the ribs, knowing full well that Misty hadn't been around to know about Lance visiting Ash in the hospital. Obviously Ash didn't think about the timing of Nigel and Lance arriving because a very happy grin was beginning to spread across his face.

"Misty said she'd be watching? Really, Brock?"

"Err… Yeah."

Brock ignored Dawn's death-stare. It wasn't a total lie, he thought. There was no doubt in his mind that Misty would be watching on television at the very least. The twenty-year-old breeder had noticed the tension between Misty and Dawn earlier and realized that this uncomfortable moment was related to that.

"Well, it's settled then! I need to start getting ready!" Ash said with his trademark smile. "Which pokémon should I use-"

"But Ash!" Dawn said. "You just had surgery a few days ago! Your mom and Nurse Joy said-"

"Forget what they said, Dawn!" Ash looked annoyed, looking incredibly stern as he spoke. "They didn't go through what I went through to get here! I've been training and traveling around the world for years… and now that I finally made it here, I've got to go for it!"

"Yeah, but-

"Dawn! Being a pokémon trainer and battling is my life! You know that better than anyone. It's more important to me than anything else in this world. _Anything_!" Ash shouted without noticing the hurt look on Dawn's face.

"… And if I don't take this chance I've been given… right here and now… what purpose does my life have? I know Lance will probably cream me out there, and there's a risk of getting hurt again, but if I don't do this… I'll regret it for the rest of my life!"

Ash's friends could see that there would be no arguing with him by now. They knew all too well how stubborn he was when it came to pokémon and battling. They were still a little offended at how the boy had mentioned that nothing else in his life mattered compared to training, but they smiled at Ash and hugged him before they left him for the night.

"All right, have a good night, Ash," said Dawn with a roll of her eyes. "There's just no reasoning with you, is there?"

"Hah, I guess not."

"Goodnight to you too, Pikachu," Dawn whispered and stroked the sleeping rodent's head.

"Just be smart, Ash. If Monday gets here and you're still not feeling good enough to compete… just please don't do anything before you're ready!" May said as she too hugged Ash goodnight.

"I promise," Ash replied flatly, not sounding that sincere.

Max and Brock just smiled at Ash, knowing without a doubt that they were going to get to see Ash battle in a few days. "We'll see you tomorrow, champ." Brock said. Max high-fived Ash and all four of them exited the room, leaving Ash and Pikachu alone in the dark room.

Lifting his head to make sure his friends had left and Nurse Joy wasn't around, Ash reached over to the duffel bag holding all of his pokéballs, which Dawn had fetched for him earlier in the day, and lifted it so that it was resting in his lap. He unzipped the bag, revealing the collection of metal golf ball-sized spheres packed inside. The boy remained silent for more than a few minutes, simply rummaging through the duffel and examining each and every pokéball individually.

A while back, probably a year or so ago, Dawn had done Ash the favor of painting each pokémon's name on the outside of the ball with fingernail polish so that he could easily identify which ball was which. It was thoughtful gestures like this that made Dawn so special to him, he realized. She was always there looking out for him.

So as Ash continued to pull random pokéballs from his bag he read all the names painted in purple nail polish.

"_Glalie..."_

"_Heracross..."_

"_Buizel..."_

"_Donphan..."_

And as Ash read all of the names of his many amazing pokémon, he began to reminisce about the memories he and his friends had made over the years. He still remembered how he met each and every one of his pokémon. He remembered all of the big battles they helped him win. He remembered all the amazing times they had shared together over the years.

"Pikapi?" Pikachu, who had recently awoken, squeaked as if to ask what Ash was thinking about.

"Wha? Oh nothing, Pikachu. Just trying to think about who I'm gonna go with against Lance."

"Pikaah!" the mouse hollered excitedly, instantly snapping out of his drowsiness. It was clear that Pikachu wanted very much to battle for Ash against Lance.

"Haha, I'm glad you're so excited. I am too. And this battle is going to be six-on-six… so I've gotta choose six of you to battle against Lance's dragons."

And so, even though Ash was extremely tired, he spent most of the next few hours pondering which six pokémon he would use to take on Lance, the champion of the world.


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Two Evils Unite

_Here is Chapter 13 Up Already! Please Please just take the time to do a short review after reading. Lots of reviews help inspire me to update sooner and more often! So yeah...REVIEW/COMMENT!_

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**CHAPTER THIRTEEN: TWO EVILS UNITE**

By Legacy

* * *

The enormous flat-screen television hummed faintly and emitted a soft, luminous radiance from its hanging position right above the brick-lined fireplace. Its roaring orange and yellow flames mixed vibrantly with the pearly white light of the T.V., casting the entire otherwise dark room in a soft ambient glow. This more than made up for the lack of natural light coming in from outside.

It was Monday afternoon now, but outside the shrouded warehouse, the gloomy forest was as dark as ever despite the time of day. Virtually no sunlight was able to make its way from the sky past the ceiling of thick treetops overhead.

Inside the luxurious office, its owner was still wearing his crisp, black business suit, had returned to his comfy leather chair behind his desk and was now reclined with his feet up, watching and listening to the television news coverage from Sapphire City intently.

"_In a matter of hours, the second round of the Pokémon World Champions League Tournament will commence," _the woman on the news announced_._

__

"Thirty-two of the original sixty-four trainers remain, and there is little doubt that the headlining match of the day will be the much-anticipated bout between the defending world champion, Lance of Blackthorn City, and young Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town…

_"…The fifteen-year-old Ketchum has definitely endeared himself to many fans over the past week with his miraculous and inspiring recovery from the horrifying attack following his last match. And now, just days after sustaining several life-threatening gunshot wounds and undergoing major surgery, Ketchum has decided to continue his run in the tournament. His amazing heart and determination have quickly made him one of the most popular trainers left in the tournament…"_

The T.V. shot to a scene of many screaming fans – most of them, young girls – outside of Sapphire Stadium, apparently waiting to purchase tickets to Ash and Lance's battle. A group of a half-dozen teenage girls in front of the mob were posing for the camera wearing white t-shirts with Ash's face on the front. Others held signs reading things like, "_We Love Ketchum!" _and "_Marry Me Ash!" _and "_Ash Ketchum: Miracle Healer!"_

Next, the on-scene reporter was seen interviewing one of the screaming Ash fan-girls who was wearing his face on her shirt.

"_All right, we're talking to one of Ketchum's young fans here today," _the reporter said and then turned his attention to the teen. "_Young lady, it seems like there's quite a following here for Ketchum. What is it about him that you and all these fans seem to love so much?"_

The girl looked incredulously at the reporter and said in a very valley-girlish tone, "_Oh... my... god, I'm Ash's number one fan! Everyone saw what that sore loser, Zak Seabrook did to him!" _The girl's face turned rather twisted with hatred when she mentioned Zak's name, but it quickly changed to a look of admiration as she continued on about Ash.

_"… We love_ _Ash because he's just so tough! Everyone who saw him get shot thought he was dead for sure… It really is a miracle that he's okay and is well enough to battle today! It's pretty amazing! And he's soooo hot too! And he's the youngest trainer ever to be in the tournament, you know. Oh my god! We're just so glad Ash is okay and is going to be able to battle tonight!"_

The girl being interviewed looked like she was about to hyperventilate while listing all of Ash's great qualities; she fanned herself wildly with her hand while her friends continued to scream and applaud in agreement with everything she had said.

"_WE LOVE YOU ASH!" _the girl shrieked into the microphone, turning to the camera as the reporter thanked her for her time. Again, the entire group behind the girl echoed her loudly.

"_There you have it. It appears as though the young man from Pallet Town has made a lot of fans here this week with his amazing comeback to competition," _the reporter said as he tried to wrestle away his microphone from the rabid fans_. "Reporting live from Sapphire City, I'm Darren Michaels… now back to Angela in the studio."_

"_Thank you, Darren," _the anchorwoman said when she had reappeared on the large T.V. screen. "_Well, it seems pretty clear who those young ladies will be rooting for tonight when Ketchum battles Lance live from Sapphire Stadium…we'll have all the exciting action-"_

The television shut off and the huge rectangular screen was now dark. The man grunted as he pulled his feet off the desk and sat straight up. He brushed a bit of dust from his black blazer and sat back in his chair for a moment, apparently deep in thought about what he had heard on T.V.

"I... can't believe it," the man said to himself, sounding pleased. "_**Now**_, I remember where I've heard your name before, Ketchum."

The man still had his mind on the fifteen-year-old boy when the intercom on his desk started beeping, alerting him of an incoming call.

"Yes?" the man asked after he pressed the answer button.

"_Boss!" _the scratchy male voice on the other line shouted, sounding a bit out of breath. "_Are you watching the news? That Ketchum kid… the one I saw get killed and come back to life…he must have done it again!"_

"Yes, Agent Cortez, I saw," the man replied coolly. "And I saw the replay of that Seabrook guy shooting him the other day... Crazy fucker. At any rate, it does seem rather strange that the boy would be battling so soon after something like that, doesn't it?"

"_Yeah, Boss. Like I said before, there's something strange going on with that kid! It's like he's immortal or something..."_

"I agree, Cortez. I believe you now."

"_You do?"_

"Yes, I didn't think of it before, but I remember this kid's name from the past… well, not his name exactly… but I remember the name, Ketchum, from a long time ago."

"_Okay..._ _But sir, what does that have to do with __**this**__ kid? And what does it have to do with our mission?"_

The man in the suit paused for a moment, stopping to stare off into space silently before he finally replied.

"It might have everything to do with him…"

"_Huh," _was all Cortez could utter on the other line.

"Agent Cortez, I want you to bring me that Ketchum boy as well. If I'm right about what I think I know... then this boy will be of great use to us."

_"What use is that, Boss? What do you mean, if you're right about what you think you know?"_

"I did not ask you to question my motives, Agent!" the man roared. "Just do as I say and capture the boy when you and your men attack the stadium!"

"_I-I apologize Boss, but it might be difficult to snatch the boy along with the others," _Agent Ryder's said, his gruff voice sounding rather concerned. "_When the strike occurs, we'll only have a limited amount of time to capture all these trainers… I'm not sure if we'll be able to get them all."_

"Just do the best you can, Agent," the boss said with a sneer. "If the other trainers resist too heavily, just kill them… Our goal is to let the public know how powerful we are. But Ketchum… no, I need Ketchum brought to me alive!"

"_Forgive me, Sir," _Agent Ryder said, sounding afraid to question his leader again, "_But how are we to ensure this kid is even at the stadium on the day of the attack? Surely you don't expect him to keep winning and make it all the way to the final."_

"Don't worry about that, Cortez," the man replied with a sinister chuckle. "I have a plan in mind to keep him at that stadium even if he loses tonight! But your only concern at the moment should be your current mission... to unleash utter destruction and terror upon Sapphire Stadium... and bring me that boy and any other trainers you can manage to capture!"

And with that, the boss clicked off his intercom and sat back again in his leather desk chair. He looked extremely pleased with himself as he poured himself a celebratory glass of scotch from the bottle he kept in one of his desk's drawers. But as he took his first sip of the warm brown liquid, his intercom rang.

**_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_**

The boss was mildly irked at again hearing the shrill tones of the intercom interrupt his peaceful drink.

He angrily punched a button on it and bellowed, "Damn it, Agent Cortez! I've already told you everything! What do you want now?"

"_Uh…sorry, sir," _a slightly frightened female voice replied on the other line. "_This isn't Agent Cortez… it's Johnson… I'm standing guard at the front door."_

The boss glanced at the security camera monitor on his desk, and sure enough, he could see the female guard at the warehouse's front entrance with a walkie-talkie to her lips.

"Yes, what is it, Johnson?" the boss asked impatiently.

"_Well, sir… uh… it seems as though you have a visitor. He says he wants to speak with you." _she replied in a confused tone of voice.

"What?" the boss said and squinted at the grainy security monitor even more closely. There was a disheveled-looking figure standing near Johnson and the other guards. The guards all had their weapons drawn and were pointing them at the mysterious visitor, who had his hands up in the air.

"Who is he? How did he find this place? What the hell is he doing here?"

"_Umm…he won't say, sir. All he says is that he knows about your plan and he thinks he can be of great assistance to you."_

The man's eyes grew big. He paused for a moment to ponder what he had just heard. How in the name of Arceus could this intruder know of his great plan? How could he have found the secret headquarters hidden deep within the forest? Who in blazes was this man?

Finally, the boss answered. "Very well. Escort our visitor up to my office, Johnson."

"_Copy that, sir. We'll be right up."_

The boss was still skeptical about the intruder's claim that he could be of some help, but he wanted to see who this man was for himself. And if he seemed like a threat, the boss wanted to be able to dispose of him rather than allowing him to leave for fear that he might alert someone about existence and location of the warehouse.

A few moments passed, and there was a knock on the door.

"Enter," the man commanded firmly from behind the desk.

Agent Johnson, a uniformed masculine-looking woman, came walking into the room followed by the mysterious intruder. He was an incredibly beaten and battered-looking man with wildly messy gray hair and a long, unkempt beard. He was wearing a dirty orange jumpsuit which was torn and ripped almost to shreds. The intruder's face was bloody and scarred; it was clear that someone or something had beaten this man up pretty badly.

The boss stared at the bearded man in disgust. Four other agents followed the intruder into the room with their automatic rifles cocked and pointed at the man's back.

"First of all, who the hell are you?" the boss shouted and pointed at the man, trying to sound as intimidating as he could.

The intruder didn't answer. He just gazed back at the boss with a sleepy look in his eyes and gave him a crooked smile.

"Maybe you didn't hear me," the boss bellowed, even angrier now that he was apparently being ignored. "Who the fuck are you and how did you find this place?"

Still no answer. The bearded intruder simply brushed back a snarled tangle of long gray hair from his face and continued to smile creepily back at the boss.

"Fine! If you have nothing to say…" the boss stood up and gave the man a cold stare. "Take him to the dungeon and shoot him."

The guards started to grab the intruder when he finally spoke.

"I know what you are planning to do here. I know that you have assembled an army. I know you are seeking great power and ownership over the world… and I can help you." The man spoke quietly, but something in his voice made him sound oddly sure of himself.

The boss was rather taken aback by how this strange and mangled man could have possibly found out about his plan to take over the world by force. But unwilling to show weakness or fear, he scoffed at the man and continued to shout.

"How could _you _possibly be of any use to _me_? Look at you! You're a fucking mess!" the man seated at the desk sneered.

Suddenly the boss noticed the small patch on the front of the man's orange jumpsuit. It was barely visible through all of the mud, but it was still readable.

"Blackburn Island Prison…" the man read out loud, sounding very quiet all of a sudden. "_You're _the prisoner that escaped the island? You are all over the news! No one in history has ever been able to escape that place! How… how in the world did you?"

The intruder chuckled softly. "That's not important."

This mysterious convict had the man's attention by now. He adjusted the collar on his black business suit and sat down at his desk. He offered the prisoner a chair.

"Please, sit down."

The intruder obliged and limped over to the chair that one of the guards had placed down in front of the man's desk.

"Now," the boss spoke more humanely to the convict now, obviously interested in how he had managed to escape a maximum security island prison and learn about his army and plan. "You said you thought you could be of some assistance to me, did you?"

"Oh yes," the intruder smiled although it was barely visible past his thick beard. "I've heard all about your plan to attack Sapphire Stadium and capture all of the world's top trainers… I know all about your plan to scare the entire world into making you their leader… and I think I have something that could be of great help to you."

The suited man cringed. How could this unhealthy-looking prisoner who had been locked away for years have heard everything? Most of his own army didn't even know the entire plan. But the boss hid his concern with a sinister smile.

"Well… I'm listening," he said. "Why don't you tell me how you can help me?"

"It would be easier to show you," the convict whispered and he took the filthy brown backpack off his back and began to unzip it.

The guards instantly pointed their guns directly at the convict when they saw him do this.

"Careful," the boss warned. "I wouldn't try any funny business… or you're dead."

The convict just chuckled again but moved more slowly as he unzipped the bag and pulled out a large roll of paper from it. He unfurled the roll of crackly, brittle parchment and held it open so that he could read from it.

"An old, rolled-up piece of paper?" the man scoffed. "_That's _what you think can help me?"

"Well, obviously paper itself can be of little use to someone in your position," the convict retorted calmly. "But it is what's written on the paper, that I think you might find interesting…" He gave the boss a little wink and smiled at him knowingly.

Without waiting for the boss to answer, the frizzled man began to read from his scroll out loud.

"Ahem," the man cleared his voice. "To he who unearths this ancient scroll, the opportunity for unworldly power you hold within your own hands…

"… For hidden deep within the darkest depths of this young planet… are THREE MYTHCIAL CRYSTAL ORBS… each holding it own unique powers and secrets…" The convict looked up and made sure the boss had heard the part about the three crystal orbs before he continued.

"… But for he who discovers and unites these three crystals from their earthly burials will be granted unparalleled power… the power to lay claim to all that exists!" The man's voice again intensified as he went on.

"… The quest in acquiring these three will be arduous and unyielding, but the fruits of this labor will be more glorious and valuable than comprehension!"

The boss paused to let his mind absorb what he had just heard. He stared calculatingly at the escaped inmate as the wheels in his brain turned. So many questions came to mind.

_How in the world did this prisoner escape from one of the most heavily guarded facilities on the planet?  
How did he figure out the warehouse's secret location, and how did he make it here?  
What was this strange scroll he had just read from?  
Where did it come from?  
Did its words speak any truth?  
Was it possible that this crazy-looking maniac was for real?_  
And these 'three mythical crystal orbs. _Could they possibly be real?_

The boss instantly began thinking of the glowing crystal orb that Professor Moss had made the life source of his magnificent killer pokémon …the same crystal orb he and his men had discovered many years ago buried deep within Mount Yoshii.

_Could it possibly be one of the three crystals which this scroll spoke of? Would he really be granted 'unparalleled power… the power to lay claim to all that exists' if he were able to capture the two remaining ones?'_

The boss remained silent, trying to gauge the amount of truth behind what the prisoner had just read to him. Finally, still making sure to sound skeptical, he replied.

"So… let's just say for a moment that I believed everything you just said to me, which I don't… but if I did, how would anybody be able to locate and find these three crystals? What you read said nothing about where these orbs are located!" The boss sounded almost as if he had talked himself out of believing the scroll as he said this.

The prisoner just smiled. He slowly flipped the scroll over to its other side, revealing a hand-drawn world map. Most of the more recognizable countries and regions were easily discernible despite how primitive the map looked.

"Whoever drafted this scroll," the prisoner explained, "must've known exactly where to look."

The man almost fell out of his chair when he saw the map. He saw three dark 'Xs', which undoubtedly signified where each crystal orb could be found, and sure enough… there was an 'X' drawn over what looked a lot like Mount Yoshii, the very place where the boss had discovered his crystal years ago.

This sealed the deal in his mind. He was holding onto one of these mysterious three crystals. Right away, he knew he must not reveal this fact to the man with the scroll. Afraid that the inmate might see his knowing look, the boss abruptly spoke again.

"Well… you can see why I'm still a bit skeptical can you not? Your story is beyond far-fetched," the boss said, trying to sound unbelieving. "And tell me… if this precious scroll of yours really _is _the key to unlocking such power… why in the world would you bring it to my attention? Surely you would much rather keep such a secret to yourself."

"Indeed, but as odd as it sounds," the convict answered with yet another devilish grin, "I have no desire for the incredible power that this roll of parchment promises. My only wish is to use these orbs to seek revenge over those who have damned me to a lifetime in that wretched prison.

"And to do that, I need your help. I know you have assembled a sizable army of very able soldiers… you have considerable monetary assets which I do not, and therefore you have the resources necessary to find these three orbs. All I ask for in return is the opportunity to inflict pain on my enemies."

"So you would honestly allow me to collect the three orbs and the alleged power that comes with them as long as you get your revenge?"

"Precisely!" the inmate croaked excitedly.

It was clear now that the boss was considering this. He scratched his chin thoughtfully with his index finger. He thought about the one crystal sphere he already had and the incredible power that it possessed. It was more than enough for the boss to accomplish his goals; his unbeatable beast had already proven itself capable of destroying anything in its path. But what if he ignored this unexpected bit of knowledge and opportunity to collect two more of these crystal orbs? What if someone else managed to discover the remaining two spheres?

Suddenly, the boss felt a pang of fear tingle throughout his body. Would it be possible for someone to thwart his plan for world domination? With a feeling of decisiveness, the boss determined that yes, he must pursue the remaining orbs if for no other reason, to make sure that no one would ever be able to become more powerful than him.

"All right… I must say," the boss finally said to the convict, "your claims still seem a bit unbelievable, but intriguing nonetheless. However, I have one question before I agree to assisting you."

The scraggly fugitive said nothing, but looked as though he was listening.

"Tell me, what is to stop me from killing you right now, taking your scroll and going after the orbs by myself? You have stated that you need me… but who is to say that _**I **_need _**you**_?" The boss had a crooked smile on his face.

The convict again said nothing and looked unaffected by the boss' threat. He simply smiled. Suddenly, the scroll he was holding in his hand ignited and burst into a huge orange flame. The man had swiftly set it on fire with a lighter he had been hiding in his opposite hand.

The ancient sheet of parchment had been so old and dry that it combusted very quickly. The prisoner dropped the flaming piece of paper to the floor where it continued to burn away into nothing but black, dusty ashes.

"You fool!" the boss bellowed, revealing how much he now cared about the scroll's legend and that he now believed the convict's claims.

"_Now_ you need me," the prisoner said with a smile and pointed to his head. "I've got the entire map memorized. So… now that the scroll and map are gone… do we have a deal?"

The boss was so enraged at being outsmarted that it took every ounce of strength in his body to keep from ordering his guards to shoot the man dead right then and there. But he restrained himself, knowing that keeping this convict alive was now the only way he'd ever be able to obtain all three of the crystals. Plus, he took comfort in the fact that this prisoner had no idea that he already owned one of the three. So after the last two were discovered, the fugitive would still believe that there was one left to find.

Finally, the boss smirked grudgingly at his new partner (at least for the time being).

"Very well. I accept the terms of the deal. I will agree to designate a team of soldiers and scientists to accompany you in your search for the remaining… I mean, the three crystal orbs. But be warned, any funny business and you have my promise that you will be killed."

"Understood, sir," the convict said with a grin. "Oh… and one more thing. Call me Sai."

"All right, Sai. You may simply call _me_, 'Boss.'"

* * *

_****Meanwhile**

* * *

**_

"Mom! I've told you like a thousand times! I feel fine!"

"Are you absolutely positive? Does your head hurt? How does your stomach feel? Come here, let me feel your forehead!" Delia Ketchum grabbed her son and slapped her hand onto his forehead. "You feel warm, Ash! Maybe you shouldn't battle after all!"

People all around the Sapphire Stadium Pokemon Center were stopping to stare at them, a fact that didn't go unnoticed to Ash.

"Mom! Come on, cut it out! People are staring," he hissed, trying to pull himself away. "And besides, you already signed the liability waiver thingie to clear me to battle!"

Fortunately for Ash, a tournament official came walking up and interrupted the two Ketchums.

"Excuse me, Ash? It's almost time for you to start. Your six pokémon are all registered… here you are." The tournament official handed Ash's belt holding five pokéballs back to him and smiled. "We need you on the field now… if you're indeed going to go through with the battle."

"Yes, sir. I'll be right out, just a sec," Ash said. The man nodded and walked away before the boy turned to his mother again.

"Mom," he said in a more civil tone. "I promise I feel okay, and I promise that I'll be careful out there. Now please, stop worrying about me, and go back to your seat with the others... please. I gotta go out to the field now."

Delia's eyes twinkled as she gazed at her son. She knew full well that she was not going to be able to convince him to sit this battle out. She knew that look of determination and tenacity so well. Finally she just smiled and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"All right, Ash. But remember, be safe out there!" Delia said sternly. She pulled away from the hug and gave Ash one last look over before kneeling down before Pikachu.

"Pikachu, you make sure he doesn't do anything reckless out there," she said, petting the pokémon on the head gently.

"Pikah Pikah!" Pikachu cried out over its shoulder as it scampered after Ash who had already started to walk towards the tunnel leading to the field.

"Oh, and sweetie!" Delia called out.

"Ugh, what?" Ash stopped in his tracks and turned towards her.

"Kick some butt out there!" She smiled sweetly and turned to return to her seat in the crowd.

Ash's mouth dropped when he heard this. Pikachu let out a sound like sounded like a giggle.

Ash and Pikachu heard and felt the rumbling of the gigantic stadium as they made their way through the dark tunnel. The boy noticed that his heart was pounding in his chest, which was still heavily bandaged underneath his clothes. He was rather thankful to be feeling anything at all after his most recent battle, but he shook those thoughts out of his head.

He was a bit nervous about the battle, having again left the mysterious coin back at his room. Ash figured Lance wasn't a likely candidate to inflict violence on him as Zak Seabrook had done. Plus, Ash wanted to measure his skills against Lance, and cheating by using the gold coin didn't seem right.

Ash felt like he was gambling with house money. He had been given a second chance. A second chance on life and a second chance in the tournament which he had spent years training for. He smiled to himself realizing that he had absolutely nothing to lose this time.

As the bright light from the end of the tunnel drew nearer, Ash heard the stadium announcer introduce his opponent, Lance.

He had idolized 'The Dragon Master' ever since the day he had met him and watched as he single-handedly destroyed Team Rocket's machine and laboratory at the Lake of Rage all those years ago. Ash remembered wanting to help Lance defeat Team Rocket, but was told that it was too dangerous for someone his age.

The way Lance had handled himself in the face of danger inspired then-ten-year-old Ash. It inspired him to work and train hard so that one day, he might be as good a trainer as his idol. Ash would fantasize about someday, becoming good enough to help save the world… to make a real difference just like his hero. And now here they were, both battling each other in the most prestigious tournament in the world.

Ash felt the prickling of goose-bumps on his arms and neck. He knew he still had a long way to go before he could consider himself in Lance's league as a trainer, but tonight… if only for one night, or until Lance defeated him, they were equals.

Ash and Pikachu finally reached the end of the tunnel. They squinted as the blinding lights from the stadium bared down upon them and thousands of flashbulbs exploded from all around the stadium. It was an awe-inspiring sight. The lights seemed brighter at night, and the crowd seemed bigger.

It was a clear evening and Ash gazed up through the bowl of the stadium at the millions of twinkling stars in the sky. The Millennium Supernova was still visible too. Somehow, all the celestial objects in the beautiful night sky made it seem like there were millions of additional eyes watching him tonight from above.

With a deep breath, Ash stepped out of the tunnel's end and walked out onto the field. Almost instantly, two huge spotlights struck him and he heard the public address announcer's voice boom and echo from the stadium's speakers.

"… _And opposing Lance tonight, the fifteen-year-old trainer from Pallet Town… Aaaaaaaaaash Ketchuuuuuuuuum!"_

Ash felt the usual jitters when he heard his name called out over the loudspeaker, but something new was happening… something that hadn't happened during his previous three matches. He looked up at the many thousands of people in the stands. He slowly turned his neck from left to right, surveying the entire stadium.

Everyone in the arena was slowly rising to their feet. The applause was like an explosion that detonated at the precise time that the announcer had said Ash's name. The noise felt like it was a hundred times louder than it had ever been when Ash had been introduced earlier in the week.

Back then, Ash received a polite smattering of cheers as a relatively unknown. Tonight, there was absolute pandemonium inside the massive stadium. People were on their feet, screaming his name, holding up hand-made signs with words of encouragement on them, and making noise louder than anything Ash or Pikachu had ever heard. The two Pallet Town natives were in absolute stunned-silence as they made their way towards the center of the field where Lance was already standing.

"_KETCH-UMM! KETCH-UMM! KETCH—UMM!" _the crowd was chanting. The chants were raining down from the seats loud enough to be heard over the blaring music that was now being played.

"You're quite popular tonight, aren't you, Ash?" Lance chuckled as soon as Ash and Pikachu had made their way to midfield to meet him. "Listen to this crowd!"

Ash shook Lance's hand without saying much. He was still dumbfounded by the crowd. "You… you mean they're cheering for me?"

"Well of course they are, Ash!" Lance laughed, obviously amused by the boy's amazement.

"Pikah!" Pikachu cried out in agreement. It jumped up onto Ash's shoulder and rubbed its head against Ash's cheek affectionately.

"I still don't get it," Ash said, never taking his wide eyes off the thousands of fans surrounding him. "You're the champion, Lance... you're the one they should be going nuts about."

"Nonsense, Ash," the older trainer said. "You have shown guts and valor like no one has ever seen in this competition. And everyone's just showing you their appreciation. You are truly a remarkable trainer..."

"_The moment we've all been waiting for is finally here!" _the announcer bellowed before Ash could respond. "_Trainers… To your positions!"_

"Well, have a great match, Ash. It's a real honor to battle you. Good luck to you!"

"Thanks, Lance. You too!" Ash said as he walked over to his side of the field, still mulling over the fact that Lance had told _**him **_that it was an honor to battle him.

* * *

"Wow, the crowd loves Ash!" Max yelled over the continued roar of the stadium from his front-row seat. He had been raucously joining in on the 'Ketchum' chants with glee.

"They sure do! The whole stadium's shaking!" Brock, who was normally pretty even keeled (unless he came across a pretty girl), was noticeably giddy with excitement in the seat next to Max.

"This is so exciting!" May squealed, craning her neck to look all around the stadium. She became more than slightly annoyed when she heard a group of teenage girls seated behind them screaming about how 'hot' Ash looked down on the field. May looked over to Dawn to gauge her reaction to the fan-girls, but she wasn't paying much attention.

Dawn had a dreamy look in her eyes as she gazed down at Ash on the field from her seat in between May and Johanna. Her face was emotionless for the most part, and she looked deep in thought.

"Dawn? What's wrong? The match is about to start." May leaned over and tried to speak loud enough so that Dawn could hear her over the roar of the crowd, but not loud enough so that the others could hear.

"Huh? Oh… yeah. I'm fine," Dawn said and smiled weakly. "I'm just… I'm just glad that Ash is still… you know, able to battle tonight."

"Well, yeah. We all are. And knowing Ash, there really wasn't any doubt that he was going to be out there, was there?"

"No," Dawn said, trying not to cry. "But, I mean… I'm just glad that Ash is… still alive."

"Oh. Me too, Dawn," May said. She obviously felt very much the same way, but didn't want to reveal to Dawn how she truly felt about Ash after seeing how Misty had been received.

"I mean, just a few days ago he was lying in his bed in the hospital… dying," Dawn continued, her voice cracking. "I… err… I mean, we were so close to losing him."

Dawn wiped a tear from her eye and rested her head on May's shoulder. May didn't say anything; she just patted Dawn on the forearm.

"I think I'm in love with him," Dawn said quietly as if it were some sort of secret.

May, not sounding surprised at all, smiled to herself when she answered, "I know, Dawn."

The referee announced that the battle between Lance and Ash would be a six-on-six battle in which either trainer could substitute their pokémon at any time. As he asked both trainers if they were ready, Johanna looked around with concern.

"I wonder where Delia is? She should be back by now. The match is starting."

Suddenly, a voice shouted over the crowd from next to them.

"Ms. Ketchum is on her way back at the hotel."

"Misty!" Brock and Max both exclaimed out of surprise.

"What are _**you **_doing here?" Dawn's head shot up off of May's shoulder, and she gave Misty a cold look. "Why is Ash's mom back at the hotel?"

Misty smirked, looking much more confident and comfortable than before. She walked her way down the row and plopped down in the seat between Brock and May before she answered.

"Well, I met her in the Pokémon Center just a few minutes ago. I had hoped to catch Ash before he went down to the field… but I was too late."

"Big surprise there, isn't it?" Dawn said sarcastically.

"Dawn!" Johanna scolded.

Unaffected by the insult, Misty continued, "Ms. Ketchum saw me right away and gave me her ticket. She said that she wanted me to be here to root Ash on… and that she thought he would want me to be here too."

Dawn opened her mouth to respond, but Misty cut her off.

"Look Dawn, you were right. I know I haven't been the greatest friend in the world to Ash lately, and I know I've been out of his life for a long time now… but that stops now. I was in my hotel room packing up my stuff to head back to Cerulean City, but I realized something.

"I realized that just because I've made mistakes in the past and haven't always shown Ash how much he means to me… that doesn't mean I should give up. He means the world to me… surely you know how I feel, Dawn… and from now on, I'm gonna be here for him!"

Misty smiled triumphantly, looking truly happy. Then she stood up, cupped her hands around her mouth, and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"WOOOO! GO ASH! YOU CAN DO IT!"

Several people seated in front of her turned to look at the screaming girl, but Misty didn't care. She was grinning from ear to ear. And as she sat back down, she couldn't resist giving Dawn a quick wink.

* * *

_There it is! **LANCE vs ASH is next! **Reviews and Comments might make that chapter come out faster!_


	15. Chapter Fourteen: The Dragon Master

_Here it is: 'Ash Vs. Lance!'_

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_**CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE DRAGON MASTER**

_By Legacy_

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_**Please REVIEW! Just takes a minute or two to leave some feedback and it's MUCH appreciated!**_

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"_KETCH-UMM! KETCH-UMM! KETCH-UMM!"_

Ash could feel the ground underneath his sneakers vibrating from the capacity crowd's boisterous cheering. The noise was deafening from where he stood as he continued to stare in wonderment at the incredible number of people packed into the arena's bowl. It was actually to the point where his ear drums stung from the decibel level.

The boy could sense the many thousands of pairs of eyes all peering down at him from above on every side. Normally, this would have unnerved him, as it had done during previous battles throughout his life, but tonight – perhaps because the crowd was clearly behind him – Ash felt strengthened as though the fans' encouragement was fueling him.

Feeling rather lost in the moment, Ash was almost startled when he noticed that a long, slithering pokémon had appeared on Lance's end of the field. The graceful serpent had sparkling sky-blue scales and small, feathery white wings on either side of its head. Ash and Pikachu were taken aback by the sheer beauty and majesty of Lance's first battler, Dragonair. The small sapphire-like orbs on its neck and tail shimmered in the bright stadium lighting, as did its glossy, black eyes, which Ash noticed, were fixed squarely on him from across the field.

"All right," Ash said to Pikachu with a confident deep breath, "Let's do this!"

"Pikah!"

Still feeling the soreness underneath his bandaged chest, Ash reached down and unclasped his first pokéball from his belt. Feeling the electrifying sense of adrenaline coursing through his body, he wound up like a baseball pitcher and hurled the ball onto the field.

"I choose you Sceptile!

Ash's green, lizard-like pokémon appeared before him, its leafy, palm-like tail blowing slightly in the wind. Its lanky arms were folded calmly across its chest, matching its placid, yellow eyes. The stoic grass-type twirled a twig in its mouth like a tooth-pick, not looking the slightest bit intimidated by Lance's dragonair. The crowd reacted to the appearance of both pokémon, and the referee signaled for the match to start.

"_Let the battle begin!" _his voice echoed loudly throughout the stadium.

Sceptile had joined Ash years ago when it was still a young treeko. The two had met in the Hoenn Region when Ash helped Treeko save the tree in which it lived from dying of dehydration. From that moment on, Treeko became very loyal to Ash and decided to join him on his journey through the region. Eventually, it evolved twice and turned into one of the strongest pokémon on Ash's entire team… a distinction that Sceptile was eager to prove tonight against Lance.

The boy's grass-type sprang into action instantly after the ref's signal and came out firing. Upon Ash's command, the leafy-lizard became nothing but a green blur as it bounced all around the field like a pin-ball and blasted several successive Bullet Seed attacks in Dragonair's direction, fully exhibiting its incredible agility in the process.

Sceptile's first few attacks, which were flying at Lance's dragonair from every direction because of how fast Ash's pokémon was moving around, barely missed the serpentine Dragon-type, who was quite elusive in its own right. But finally, a few speeding bullets were able to hit their target, striking Dragonair around its middle and leaving a few nasty welts behind on its skin. At this point, Sceptile finally stopped zooming around the field, either from fatigue or simply to observe the damage it had done to its opponent.

"Your sceptile is quite fast! Very impressive!" Lance shouted from across the field, smiling approvingly at Ash. "But it's going to take more than speed to defeat me, I'm afraid."

"I wouldn't doubt it!" Ash called back, but was slightly distracted by a slight pain in his chest.

He rubbed his hand gently against the bandaged portion of his chest and abdomen, feeling how tender and sore the area was where his stitches were. He winced in pain, but quickly forced any thoughts of panic or fear from his mind when he heard Lance called out his first attack.

"Dragonair, let's show them our specialty! Hyper Beam!"

Dragonair obeyed and the glassy blue orb on its neck began to glow. A split-second later, a powerful multicolored beam of incredibly concentrated energy shot like a laser from the orb towards Sceptile. The crowd gave a collective gasp at such a display of raw power, but luckily for Ash, Sceptile was barely able to somersault out of the beam's path in the nick of time.

* * *

"That was close!" May shouted after a deep exhale.

Max had jumped out of his seat at the sight of Dragonair's Hyper Beam, but was relieved to see that it had missed its mark.

"Yeah it was," Brock agreed. "And now's Ash's chance!"

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked.

Brock was about to reply, but Misty spoke up first and turned to Dawn.

"Well, Hyper Beam is a really powerful attack, but it drains so much of the user's energy that the pokémon who uses it must recharge afterward," Misty said knowingly, although she avoided looking Dawn in the eye.

"Gee, thanks!" Dawn growled, glaring at Misty and looking more annoyed than genuinely thankful.

Misty was ignoring her however. The red-head's entire focus was on the field, a look of concern in her emerald-blue eyes. She thought for a moment that she had seen Ash grab his chest with a look of agony on his face…although he appeared to be fine now.

* * *

"Alright Sceptile, now's our chance!" Ash echoed what Brock had said. "Leaf Blade!"

Sceptile lunged towards the debilitated dragonair. The two long, razor-sharp leaves on both arms began glowing neon green as it reached back in preparation to strike. Then, with a powerful downward jerk of its arms, Sceptile slashed Lance's dragon-type across its abdomen with its Leaf Blade, leaving two gruesome, bloody scars behind.

Dragonair howled and writhed in pain, retreating quickly towards Lance, who had a look of anger on his face for the first time since the battle began. His pokémon looked flustered, but still able to continue on.

"Are you all right, Dragonair? Good. Let's fire back with Iron Tail!"

Dragonair darted towards Sceptile like a missile from across the field. While in midair, its whip-like tail began to glow bright white like molten steel before the pokémon tried to scourge Sceptile with it. But again, Ash's most powerful grass-type proved to be too agile and avoided repeated Iron Tail attempts like some sort of acrobat.

"Awesome job, Sceptile!" Ash called out after it had successfully dodged four-straight attacks and landed calmly on its feet, still chewing nonchalantly on the twig in its mouth. "Dragonair's Iron Tail attack sure is strong… but let's show them how strong you are!"

Again, Sceptile began to dash all around Dragonair's half of the field with impressive speed. Lance commanded his pokémon to try to slow its opponent down with a series of Thunder attacks, but only one of them was able to actually strike the fast-moving Sceptile. Shaking off the painful shock, it blitzed Dragonair, leaving its feet and connecting with a crushing body blow. Dragonair went flying and landed so hard that a cloud of brown dust was thrown up into the air. Lance's pokemon was twitching from the pain it had endured, but once again, refused to relent.

By this time, the crowd was going nuts as Sceptile was clearly imposing its will over Dragonair. Ash had a confident look on his face, and Pikachu was jumping up and down in celebration. But Lance didn't look overly concerned.

Ash's pokémon continued to show off its speed with the intent to make it hard for Dragonair to land any solid blows, but Lance cracked a smile as he cupped his hands along his mouth and shouted directions to his battler.

"Dragonair, I want you to keep your eyes on Sceptile and try to use Wrap!"

Almost two minutes passed with Dragonair just sitting near midfield keeping its eyes glued on Sceptile, who was still running circles around it, pausing to fire random Bullet Seed attacks, then continuing to move. Dragonair avoided the majority of these, but didn't try to retaliate, only focusing on gauging Sceptile's constant movement.

Finally, Dragonair whipped its tail like a lasso in the direction of the streaking grass-type and managed to grab hold of one of its legs. Before Ash or his pokémon could react, Dragonair had wrapped its entire body up tightly with its tail like an arbok constricting its prey. Sceptile struggled, but could not free itself from the bind.

"Now Dragonair, use Hyper Beam!"

With Sceptile still firmly in its grasp, Dragonair turned its head towards it and fired another multicolored energy beam which struck Ash's pokémon at point-blank range. This time it was Sceptile's turn to moan in agony as it landed in a crumpled heap on the field, obviously on the verge of losing consciousness.

"Sceptile! Are you okay?" Ash's cried out, fearing that his battler was finished.

But Sceptile managed to return to its feet, albeit a little wobbly-legged at first. It was breathing very heavily and wore dozens of scratches and bruises all over. It took a moment or two to collect its composure while Dragonair recharged itself, and looked over its shoulder to Ash. The fifteen-year-old said nothing, only giving Sceptile a nod and a slight smile. And as if the pokémon understood exactly what Ash's gesture had meant, it turned back to face its opponent.

Sensing an opening, Lance commanded Dragonair to bombard Sceptile with Thunder and Iron Tail attacks, one after another.

Luckily, Sceptile was still strong enough to use its speed advantage and narrowly avoided the barrage despite the fact that the previous Hyper Beam had definitely taken its toll. The grass-type did not return fire however… its mouth was tightly closed the entire time.

Seeing that both Dragonair and Sceptile were both extremely exhausted, Lance decided to go for the kill.

"Dragonair, wrap Sceptile up again… then blast it with another Hyper Beam!"

Dargonair repeated the Wrap attack by launched its long and narrow body at Sceptile, but this time, Ash's pokémon did not even try to run away. It simply stood its ground and allowed Lance's dragon to wind its body all around it.

Right away, Lance thought this to be odd, but chalked it up to Sceptile's fatigue. He was just about to order Dragonair to fire its Hyper Beam, but stopped when he noticed Ash grinning from across the field.

"Exactly what I wanted," Ash shouted and pumped his fist. "Sceptile… Use Solarbeam! NOW!"

"No!" Lance screamed, realizing exactly what Ash and Sceptile had planned.

While still tied up by Dragonair's Wrap, Sceptile finally opened its mouth and revealed the ball of pure light energy it had been gathering inside. Then, before Dragonair could either brace itself or fire its Hyper Beam, Sceptile unleashed the bundle of intense yellow energy right in the dragon-type's face. Instantly, Dragonair's grasp of Sceptile loosened and its body went limp before falling to the ground.

"_Dragonair is unable to battle! Sceptile is the winner!"_

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"Unbelievable!" Max jumped to his feet and applauded with the rest of the Sapphire Stadium crowd when he saw what Ash had done. "Genius!"

"That was awesome!" May screamed.

"Wow! Ash somehow signaled to Sceptile to charge its Solarbeam without even saying anything to it," Brock commented. "And then purposely let Dragonair use Wrap on it again!"

Misty and Dawn were also on their feet, wildly clapping and screaming. After a moment or two, both girls realized that they were cheering together. They stopped briefly to exchange unfriendly glares, but quickly continued to applaud once again. From in between the two girls, May simply rolled her eyes when she noticed.

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"Great job, Dragonair," Lance commended his fallen Pokemon as he returned it to its ball. "You battled hard."

The Dragon Master then turned his attention towards Ash as he took out his next pokéball. He called out, "Very clever, young man. But, that's only my first pokémon… Aerodactyl! You're Next!"

Lance launched his next ball onto the field, and the enormous prehistoric creature appeared in the air just above the field. Aerodactyl flapped its powerful gray wings and bared its serrated, dagger-like fangs.

Ash could feel the wind from Aerodactyl's flapping wings from all the way across the field. He stared in awe at the fierce-looking beast. He pondered for a moment, then decided to stick with Sceptile, a grass-type, to face off against Aerodactyl, a part-rock-type.

"All right, Aerodactyl," Lance bellowed. "Get up in the air!"

Obediently, Lance's flying pokémon took to the sky, swooping powerfully over the field like a fighter jet. The loud shriek that came out of its mouth could be heard even over the steady noise of the crowd.

Sceptile, who was obviously limited to the ground, did its best to land attacks from there, but the effectiveness of its Bullet Seed and Leaf Blade attacks were negated because of the distance Aerodactyl was keeping from it. After easily dodging several of Sceptile's grass-type attacks, the winged beast dived down from the sky like a meteor, descending directly towards Ash's pokémon at incredible speed.

"Iron Head, Aerodactyl!" Lance shouted.

As it swooped and screamed down towards its opponent, Aerodactyl's entire body began to glow white, picking up even more speed as the white flame of energy intensified. It lowered its now steel-hard head and bashed Sceptile in the stomach with a devastating head-butt. Ash gasped when he saw his leafy friend fly backwards from the force of Aerodactyl's Iron Head attack and crash land at the boy's feet.

"You okay, Sceptile?"

Sceptile managed to climb to its feet, but staggered around very punch-drunkenly.

"Quickly, Aerodactyl! Now, use Ice Fang!" Lance called out.

While Sceptile was still dazed, Aerodactyl plummeted down from flight once again and opened its huge jaws. The jagged fangs that lined its mouth began to glimmer with a bright icy blue glow and it bite down hard on Sceptile's left leg.

Ash heard a sickening crunch and was horrified when he saw that the entire lower-half of Sceptile's body became covered in ice. Still barely conscious, Sceptile was now rooted to the ground with its legs frozen solid. Aerodactyl turned back and charged up another Iron Head. It missed on this attempt, but simply turned back and tried again. Now that it couldn't move, Ash's pokémon was nothing but a sitting-psyduck standing there. Ash knew he had to think of something; Sceptile wouldn't be able to keep dodging attacks without its trademark quickness.

Aerodactyl had turned back after its most recent Iron Head attack and was hurtling down towards the still-partially-frozen Sceptile again. This time, a huge ball of yellow energy was charging in its open mouth.

"Sceptile, use a Drain Punch!" Ash shouted just before Aerodactyl was about to fire its Hyper Beam from close range.

Sceptile balled up its green fists and its right arm became surrounding by a bright neon green energy as it pulled its arm back in preparation for the punch. It whipped its arm forward at the exact moment that Aerodactyl descended upon it, and the green energy it had been storing in its punching arm exploded on impact.

Aerodactyl screeched in pain, and both it and Sceptile were thrown backwards in opposite directions from the force. However, while the flying ancient flying-rock type looked battered and beaten as it slowly rose from the ground, Sceptile looked fresher and healthier than it had looked before.

"What the-?" Lance's eyes grew big with shock, but then realized what had occurred. "Oh, Drain Punch… it damaged Aerodactyl… siphoned some of its energy and transferred it to Sceptile!"

"That's right," Ash said with a sly grin.

Sceptile now leaped up to its feet and flexed its wiry muscles. The renewed strength allowed it to shatter the block of ice that had encased its legs. Aerodactyl was still lying in a mangled heap on the ground. Its wings were a crumpled mess at its side as they drooped limply.

Pikachu again was jumping up and down, cheering from Ash's side.

"Now," Ash continued. "Sceptile, finish it off with another Solarbeam!"

Calmly walking closer to the injured Aerodactyl, Sceptile took a deep breath and slowly charged up its Solarbeam while Lance's pokémon struggled and failed to return to flight. It was too weak for its wings to work; it could only look up at the approaching Sceptile with a look of horror.

"NOW!" Ash screamed at the top of his lungs.

Sceptile exhaled mightily and discharged the blazing beam of energy which struck Aerodactyl directly. It looked like a rag-doll as it rolled violently backwards from the beam's force before finally stopping at Lance's feet.

"_Aerodactyl is unable to battle! Ketchum's Sceptile is the winner!" _the announcer bellowed excitedly.

"Great job Sceptile! You beat two of Lance's pokémon all by yourself!" Ash shouted as he took out the grass-type's pokéball. "Now take a break… I'll probably need you later on."

Ash returned Sceptile to its ball and looked over to Lance to see which pokémon the champion would send out next.

"Aerodactyl, it's okay," Lance said, removing his third pokéball from his pocket. "Now, it's time to turn this thing around… Go, Tyranitar!"

"All right, I choose you… Gliscor!" Ash shouted when he saw Lance's Tyranitar appear on the field.

The flying ground-type emerged from its ballwith a bright flash and stood happily at Ash's end of the field, obviously excited to battle.

"Gliiiis-kor!" It greeted Ash with its familiar goofy grin. Its big yellow eyes were teary out of gratefulness to Ash for choosing him to battle, and its tongue was sticking out as it smiled. The dark purple pokémon looked ready to pounce on its trainer out of affection.

"Haha. I'm glad to see you too, Gliscor," Ash chuckled. "But right now, we've got a pretty important battle to worry about."

Gliscor whirled around and took a look at Lance's enormous tyranitar, who was roaring and stamping its huge feet at the other end. After sizing up its opponent, Gliscor turned back towards Ash and gave him a wink as if to say,_ "No problem… that thing doesn't look that strong."_

"Stay focused, Gliscor," Ash warned.

The ref signaled for the round to start and Tyranitar led things off with a quick Dark Pulse attack which it send zooming towards Gliscor. Instead of looking fearful or intimidated by such a powerful dark-type attack, Gliscor just giggled as it easily avoided the speeding ball of dark energy. The winged pokémon then used the wind current that the powerful attack had created to sail up into the air, gliding above the field gracefully.

Once an inexperienced and clumsy 'flier,' Gliscor had since mastered the skill and was now one of Ash's swiftest pokémon, not to mention one of his most tenacious battlers, despite his happy-go-lucky attitude. Years ago, the boy had left Gliscor to train with a man named McCann, a man they had met while traveling through the Sinnoh Region whose nickname was 'The Air Battle Master.' Ever since then, Ash's gliscor had become a very skilled battler who excelled in the air.

Gliscor soared through the air above the field effortlessly, clearly enjoying the fact that it was able to show off in front of all these spectators. It appeared as though it was more focused on the huge crowd rather than the dangerous tyranitar, who was still firing Dark Pulse and Stone Edge attacks from the ground.

But Gliscor somehow managed to elude every single one of the attacks, which sailed harmlessly past it and disappeared into the sky. Still gliding through the air, it stuck its tongue out at Tyranitar, then turned its head towards Ash and waved before it continued to pose for the crowd.

"Quit fooling around, Gliscor!" Ash scolded, obviously perturbed by Gliscor's lack of focus. Hoping that calling out an attack would help his pokémon think more about the battle than playing around, Ash shouted, "Use X-Scissor! Now!"

Both of Gliscor's claws began to glow white as they both built up an increasing amount of energy. Then, crossing its arms into the shape of an 'X,' the vampire-bat-like pokémon made a hard slashing motion and the two criss-crossing beams of energy were released and flew down at Tyranitar.

The X-Scissor attack struck Lance's pokemon in the chest, and it roared in anger as it back-pedaled. Gliscor continued to chuckle, having the time of its life. Furious at being laughed at, Tyranitar shot several more impulsive Dark Pulses up towards Gliscor, but again, each of them missed.

Finally, Lance too grew fed up with the failed attacks. "Use Screech, Tyranitar!" he hollered.

Tyranitar obliged and let out a high-pitched, ear-splitting shriek that could have shattered glass. The sound waves reached Gliscor up in the air, who immediately yelped and fell out of the flight when it grabbed its ears. It crashed to the ground, still visibly affected by the piercing scream and unable to attack.

"Now, Tyranitar! Let's try Dark Pulse again!" Lance ordered.

This time, the black and purple beam of dark energy that Tyranitar released struck Gliscor directly. The aura of horrible energy was imbued with dark thoughts and emotions, sort of like forcing someone to have a terrible nightmare without putting them to sleep.

Gliscor bawled, tears streaming from its eyes from the horrible feeling the Dark Pulse had caused. Ash tried to clam it down and instructed Gliscor to use various attacks, but his Pokemon was too distraught to listen.

"Finish it, Tyrantiar! Hyper Beam!" Lance yelled, showing no mercy.

And once Tyranitar's most powerful attack pulverized Gliscor, it was over for Ash's pokémon. Gliscor smashed all the way into the wall behind Ash at his end of the field and collapsed.

"_Gliscor is unable to battle! Tyranitar is the victor!"_

"Good work, buddy," Ash sighed, returning Gliscor to its ball. "We've just got to work on your focus."

* * *

"Well, we knew Ash wasn't going to sweep Lance," Brock said after Gliscor went down.

"Yeah, Ash is still winning though. He's got five pokémon left!" May said. "Lance is down to four."

"That's true, sis," Max replied. "But Sceptile was pretty wiped out when Ash returned it… and Lance hasn't even used his two strongest Pokemon yet."

"You mean Dragonite and Gyarados?" May asked.

Misty, who was seated next to May, spoke up as well.

"Yeah, I've seen those two pokémon up close when Ash and I met Lance years ago… and they are two of the strongest pokémon I've ever seen," Misty said, remembering how ferocious the angry Red Gyarados had been when they had tried to stop it from destroying Mahogany Town and how it had taken Lance's awesome dragonite to eventually stop it from its rampage.

"So you're saying Ash is going to lose?" Dawn growled.

"Of course not!" Misty growled back with a look on her face that showed she was finally beginning to lose patience with Dawn.

"Can't you two at least _try _to get along?" May insisted, looking very annoyed (as did Brock, Max and Johanna). "We're all here because we're on Ash's side… there's no sense in arguing when we all want the same thing."

But despite the fact that May was seated in between Misty and Dawn, neither of the two girls paid her any attention.

"You think Ash isn't good enough to win? He's not ten years old anymore, you know!" Dawn shouted.

"I never said that… it's just that when Ash and I met Lance –"

"Yeah, we get it," Dawn interrupted angrily. "You and Ash _used _to be best of friends. You _used _to be so close. You _used _to do everything together… save pokémon, meet elite trainers, go on adventures… blah, blah, blah. But that was then, Misty. This is now! _I've _been traveling around with Ash for a long time now, and _I'm _telling you… after some of the stuff _we've _been through and some of the pokémon that Ash and _I _have seen, this Lance guy is nothing special!"

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Unfortunately for Ash, Lance proceeded to prove Dawn's statement _(…Lance is nothing special…) _wrong as the battle carried on. After defeating Gliscor rather quickly, Tyranitar took out Ash's next two pokémon, Charizard and Sceptile (again) with overwhelming strength.

Charizard demonstrated its usual power and supreme battling ability as it battled toe to toe with Lance's tyranitar like two heavyweight boxers. It had managed to land a few of its Fire-Blast assaults, which weakened Lance's dark-type considerably. In the end, however, Tyranitar finished Ash's charizard with a series of Stone Edge attacks, followed by a Hyper Beam of its own.

Sceptile, who was already rather fatigued from battling earlier, met the same fate as Charizard. Lance's dark-type Goliath was simply too strong for any of Sceptile's grass-moves to work. Bullet Seed just bounced off the thick-skinned beast's chest without doing much damage, and by the time Ash tried to have Sceptile charge up another Solarbeam, Tyranitar had defeated it as well. Momentum was now fully on Lance's side.

"Damn it," Ash muttered under his breath. He was sweating profusely now, and the persistent pain in his chest and arm had worsened. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to unclasp his fourth pokéball.

"Glalie… it's your turn!" Ash grunted, trying his best to ignore the throbbing discomfort he was feeling in his abdomen.

The spherical pokémon, which Ash had always thought looked a little like a soccer ball, materialized and began to battle the weakened tyranitar right away. Ash instructed his glalie to head butt its opponent to start out, but Tyranitar was still strong enough to bat the ice-type away like a beach ball.

"Tyranitar, another Dark Pulse!" Lance barked, but snarled with anger when he saw Glalie bounce out of the way just in time to avoid the black-energy.

"Try Stone Edge!" Lance's voice was growing more tense by the minute.

Three blue rings of light materialized horizontally around Tyranitar's middle. From this energy, dozens of jagged and sharp gray rocks formed and were sent hurtling towards Glalie. This attack did make contact, but luckily for Ash, Glalie's frozen-hard body protected it from taking too much damage.

The two pokémon continued to exchange attacks back and forth, Tyranitar mainly relying on its Dark Pulse and Glalie attempting to bash it back with about a half-dozen carefully timed Head Butts. Both battlers were successful in connecting on a few of their attempts, but neither had taken enough damage to go down.

"Glalie! Double-Team, now!" Ash yelled, knowing he would have to get creative if Glalie was to have any chance of beating the much more powerful Tyranitar.

The ice-type pokémon began bouncing all around the field like a rubber-ball. It picked up so much speed that illusionary copies of Glalie popped up all around the field. Soon, it looked like there were two-dozen of them surrounding Tyranitar.

Lance jerked his head all around the field, trying to quickly discern which Glalie was in fact the real one, but it was no use. Tyranitar was equally baffled, not knowing which opponent to attack. Ash did not wait for his adversaries to even attempt to figure it out. Before Lance could call out an attack, Ash decided to go on the offensive.

"Use Ice Beam, Glalie!" Ash shouted.

While Tyranitar was whirling around in confusion, one the glalie behind it leaped up into the air. Its orbital body began to convulse, its bright blue eyes focused completely on Tyranitar. A ball of white light formed in between its pointy ears at the top of its head, quickly growing in size and intensity. At the climax of the beam's growth, Glalie fired the powerful Ice Beam towards Tyranitar.

Lance tried to alert his pokémon, but by that time, it was too late. Tyranitar turned around just in time to see the Ice Beam speeding towards it. Still feeling very depleted from its tussles with Sceptile, Charizard and Gliscor, Tyranitar was unable to move swiftly enough to dodge the luminescent beam of ice. It struck it directly and almost instantly, the bright green pokémon turned into a sickly blue color, and its body became as stiff as a board before it fainted.

"_Tyranitar is unable to battle! Glalie is the winner! Both trainers are down to three Pokemon each!"_

"Yes! Way to go, Glalie!" Ash screamed excitedly. Pikachu pumped his tiny fists in the air.

"Amazing work, my friend," Lance complimented Tyranitar, who had managed to conquer three of Ash's toughest pokémon before succumbing. "You've definitely earned a rest."

Salamence was the Dragon Master's next fighter. It roared fiercely and shot a huge red flame from its mouth into the air once it appeared on the field. It whipped its heavy tail against the ground, leaving a huge dent in the concrete.

Again, the crowd gave a collective, "Oooooh!" when they saw the prodigious pokémon that Lance had chosen.

"Salamence, huh?" Ash said to himself. He took out his trusty, red hand-held Pokedex and punched a few buttons.

"_Salamence… the Dragon Pokemon. One of the strongest dragon-type pokémon in the world. It is an extremely fierce battler and becomes uncontrollable if enraged, destroying everything in its path with its razor-sharp claws and fire-breathing ability."_

"Hmmm… ice-types are pretty strong against dragon-types, but if Salamence can breathe fire, Glalie won't stand a chance," Ash said, talking to himself as he quickly pondered.

"Okay, Glalie… return!" Ash finally made up his mind. He replaced his ice-type on the field with his next pokémon. "Feraligator! I choose you!"

The pokéball bounced on the field and out popped a bulky blue reptilian-pokémon that looked far more suited for swimming in the water rather than battling on land. It wore large blue scales on its leathery skin and jagged red fins on the top of its head, back and tail.

* * *

"Look! A feraligator!" Max again jumped out of his seat and pointed down toward the field in amazement.

"Wow!" Brock said. "Ash must have evolved Totodile just recently! Last time I saw him he didn't have Feraligator."

"Yeah, it evolved while Ash and I were in Tundras," Dawn explained. "He seemed pretty excited about it, but I don't know why. I mean look at that thing… it's so ugly! Sure wouldn't be much to look at in a contest."

"I think it's beautiful!" Misty said, gazing down at the evolved form of the totodile, whose ownership she had once battled Ash for.

She felt a warm feeling seeing Ash use Feraligator in this battle since she and Ash had both coveted it back during their Johto days. She couldn't explain why she felt like that, but maybe it was just because it was at least some sign that Ash hadn't forgotten those days when the two of them (along with Brock) had traveled that strange new region together.

"It's beautiful," Misty repeated whimsically.

* * *

Feraligatr definitely battled beautifully, completely holding its own against Lance's Salamence. Running around on all-fours, it was remarkably fast despite the fact that it didn't look equipped to move very well on land. Lance's dragon had tried several attempts at biting Feraligator with its powerful Thunder Fang attack, which would have been devastating to the water-type, but each time Lance ordered the attack, it managed to escape Salamence's electrified bite.

Additionally, Salamence's fire-breathing ability was all but negated by the fact that Feraligator was resistant to such attacks due to its type. And whenever Salamence did try to unleash a Flamethrower here and there, all it took was a well-timed Hydro Pump to extinguish the flames and further infuriate the proud dragon-type.

As the battle proceeded, Salamence did manage to give Feraligator a bunch of blood-red scars with its dangerously sharp claws, but each time, Ash's pokemon countered with vicious Slash and Crunch attacks of its own. Both pokémon were soon bleeding from the deep cuts and slash-marks that littered each of their bodies, and both became more and more determined to win with every painful laceration that they received.

Eventually Lance concluded that Salamence's best chance to win would be to take to the air. It was really the only advantage that it had over Feraligator, who was obviously a powerhouse fighter in its own right.

"Salamence, fly up into the air!" the man commanded.

With a fierce flap of its muscular red wings, Salamence managed to thrust itself up into the air just before Feraligator could hit it with another Hydro Pump. Lance's beast was now soaring through the air, showing just how much faster it was able to fly than it was able to scoot around on the ground.

"Be careful, Feraligator!" Ash warned from his end of the field.

Salamence dipped and dived all around the stadium, firing jets of blazing green flames from its mouth down towards its opponent on the field. After a few misfires, finally one of the Dragon Rage attacks drilled Feraligatr right in the back and caused the pokémon to smash into the ground with so much force that it created a giant crater in the field.

"Feraligator!" Ash screamed. "Please be okay!"

The blue-skinned reptilian creature remained motionless for a few moments, but finally managed to return to its feet just before the referee was going to rule it unable to battle. The crowd erupted with cheers when they saw the perseverance that the massive water-type was displaying. Lance had a look of shock on his face when he saw that the attack hadn't finished Feraligator off. But a smile crept onto his sweaty face when his and Ash's eyes met from opposite ends of the field.

"Your pokémon definitely reflect your personality, Ash," Lance called out. "Truly impressive!"

Ash smiled back, but said nothing. He appreciated Lance's compliment, but the boy wasn't out here looking for compliments; he only cared about winning… about proving to the entire world that he was so much more than just some feel-good story on the news. Ash wanted to prove that he belonged.

Both Salamence and Feraligatr were both running on fumes. Both were breathing extremely hard and looked incredibly fatigued. Sensing this, Lance knew he had to go for all of nothing right now.

"Salamence! I want you to dive down at Feraligator! Finish it off with Dragon Pulse!"

Obligingly, Salamence contracted its crimson wings close to its body and began to plummet towards the ground. As it surged down straight towards Ash's gator, a ball of green energy could be seen growing inside of its open jaws.

"Feraligator! Stand your ground and use Focus Blast!" Ash commanded.

Without delay, Feraligatr tightly shut its eyes and clenched its massive jaw, apparently heightening its mental focus. And then, with a booming roar, the pokémon discharged a mighty blue beam of light. It shot like a rocket up towards Salamence. At that exact moment, Lance's dragon unleashed its blue-green pulse of energy down towards Feraligator.

Both beams hurtled towards each other from their respective directions and collided. When they hit, a massive explosion of blinding light occurred and the crowd's noise was completely drowned out by the deafening boom that sounded an amplified clap of thunder. A mammoth cloud of dust shrouded the entire field, completely masking the field from the crowd.

Everything went silent as the fans all tried to figure out what had happened to Salamence and Feraligator following the explosion. Finally, when the haze cleared, the spectators all released a collective gasp when they saw both pokémon lying transfixed on the ground. Both had been knocked out!

"_Both Salamence and Feraligator are unable to battle!" _the referee's voice boomed over the loud speaker. "_Both trainers now have two pokémon remaining!"_

The crowd returned to its normal volume, and both Ash and Lance recalled their fainted fighters. Ash wasted no time after Feraligator was returned to its ball. He ignored the pain in his chest and quickly tossed out Glalie's pokéball once again.

"All right, Glalie! Time to go back to work!"

The hockey mask-looking ice-creature reappeared on the field, looking as focused as ever with its block-like teeth clenched. Ash already knew which pokémon Lance would send out, and wasn't surprised at all to see a giant ruby-red, serpentine pokémon with its enormous mouth gaping open, showing off its bone-crushing teeth.

When it emerged from its pokéball, the beautifully crimson monster sparkled as if it had been surrounded by thousands of twinkling diamonds. The crowd again reacted to the sheer glamor of the 'shiny' pokémon.

"_It looks like Ketchum has called upon his Glalie once again… while Lance has summoned his legendary Red Gyarados!" _the announcer screamed, his tone of voice exhibiting just how tense the battle was getting.

The size discrepancy was amazing between Ash and Lance's battlers. Gyarados towered over the much smaller spherical ice-type and looked as if it could have swallowed Glalie whole if it wanted to. But neither Ash nor his pokémon looked too concerned.

But unfortunately, both Ash and Glalie's confidence did not last long. Lance's Red Gyarados was certainly every bit as powerful and ruthless as Ash had remembered from encountering it in Johto five years ago. It started out with three strong Dragon Pulse attacks in a row, forcing Glalie to retreat back and play defensively. Each vicious beam of puke-green light energy mutilated the field when it struck the concrete.

Glalie narrowly avoided the attacks, but was clearly growing tired from all the jukes and evasions it was forced into. Eventually, Ash had to instruct Glalie to use Double-Team once again in order to give it a respite from Gyarados' relentless offense.

The Glalie-illusions again materialized, momentarily confounding Lance's murderous dragon-type. But unlike Tyranitar, who had looked discombobulated when Glalie had used Double-team and allowed the ice-type to sneak-attack it, Gyarados never gave it the chance.

"Use Thrash!" Lance shouted immediately.

And upon command, Gyarados' eyes grew wide with rage and it let out a terrifying scream. Ash and Pikachu (not to mention many of the fans who were seated close to the field) had to cover their ears from the pain the cry caused. Gyarados then began to wildly whip its long body like a magikarp flopping on dry land. It thrashed about uncontrollably, whizzing through each and every illusionary Glalie copy as it moved swiftly around the entire field.

Finally, when its muscular tail whipped the real Glalie who never had time to attack. It flew back and nearly crashed into Ash, but ended up bouncing violently against the wall.

"Glalie are you all right?" Ash ran over and bent down over his Pokemon.

Glalie weakly responded, and gingerly rolled back onto the playing field.

"Gyarados, use Hydro Pump!" Lance hollered, not wanting to let up. A thick jet of crystal blue water shot from its mouth.

"Quick, Glalie! Ice Beam!" Ash reacted.

Again, both attacks from Ash and Lance's pokémon collided, but this time there was no explosion. Instead, Glalie's powerful Ice Beam struck the Hyrdo Pump attack and halted it in mid-air. The entire stream of water that was protruding out of Gyarados' mouth began to freeze until eventually, the Ice Beam completely prevailed and struck Lance's shiny pokémon in the mouth.

It furiously writhed in pain, but the attack seemed to anger Gyarados more than it had damaged it. Out of anger, it proceeded to fire more and more misguided Dragon Pulses, further destroying the field in the process. The entire rectangular surface now looked more like crater-filled mess than it did an actual playing field. Unable to really land any successful attacks, Ash tried desperately not to become discouraged. He knew Glalie couldn't avoid Lance's powerful beast forever.

For a brief moment, Ash let the thought of losing to Lance creep into his head. There was definitely nothing to be ashamed of at this point… he had given the defending world champion an incredible challenge. At this point, no one who had seen the battle would be able to really criticize – NO!

"No!" Ash growled out loud. He had come this far… he would NOT settle for just a close loss, no matter how impressive his battling had been up until this point. He wanted to win.

Ash racked his brain for a plan. He looked at the wrecked field… and suddenly an idea popped into his head! It would definitely be risky, but he figured it was his only shot.

"Glalie, use Ice Beam… on the entire field!"

Glalie obeyed its teenage trainer and shot a powerful icy beam of energy down towards the ground. In a matter of seconds, the field started resemble a large skating rink, which glimmered in the harsh stadium lighting.

"What is he up to?" Lance said quietly, trying to figure out Ash's plan.

"Now Glalie! Double-Team again!" Lance heard Ash cry out.

Once again, dozens of Glalies appeared on the field, but none of them moved… all of them stood still, almost daring Gyarados to attack them. Still puzzled at Ash's last two moves, Lance shrugged and called out, "All right, Gyarados… Fire Dragon Breaths at all of them!"

Gyarados immediately shot dozens of bright green beams of 'breath' from its mouth, one at each of the Glalie copies. One by one, the illusions disappeared upon impact, until the real Glalie was hit. The powerful gust of hot energy struck the ice-type creature hard, who moaned in pain and crashed to the ground.

"_Glalie is unable to battle! Gyarados is the winner! Ketchum has just one Pokemon remaining!"_

A steady murmur fell over the crowd. It was obvious that people were confused as to what Ash had done.

* * *

"What was _that_?" May asked when she saw Glalie faint. "Why didn't Ash tell Glalie to attack?"

"Yeah," Max questioned. "All it did was sit there after it used Double-Team."

"Hmmm." Brock scratched his chin and thought about what they had just seen.

"Hey! I know what he's doing!" Misty exclaimed suddenly. "Look at the field!"

May, Max, Brock, Dawn and Johanna all did so, but were unsure of what Misty had been getting at.

"What about it?" Dawn asked, sounding as snippy as ever. "What are you talking about?"

"The Ice Beam that Glalie used on the entire field!" Misty said excitedly, happy that she knew exactly what Ash had been thinking. "Gyarados' Dragon Breath melted the ice! The entire field is flooded!"

Sure enough, the thick sheet of ice that Glalie had coated the whole surface with had now melted, and Gyarados was now standing in about a half-foot of water.

"So what?" Dawn insisted.

"You'll see!" Misty said with a grin.

* * *

"All right, Pikachu," Ash said, looking down to his best friend who was standing next to him. "You know what to do. Your strongest Thunderbolt!"

"Pikah!" The yellow electric Pokemon cried as it bounded onto the field and began to spark.

A look of shock and horror overtook Lance's face when he realized what Ash had done.

"Pi…Kaaaaah….CHUUUUUU!" A gigantic bolt of yellow lightning shot from Pikachu's body down towards the flooded field.

And as though the water on the ground helped to intensify the attack, Gyarados instantly became immersed in the yellow energy and convulsed like it was having a seizure. It screeched in pain before the Thunderbolt finally subsided. Gyarados, who was now more of a charred, black color rather than bright red, as it had been before, crashed down to the ground and did not move.

"_Gyarados is unable to battle!" _The announcer sounded rather shocked at how quickly it had been defeated. "_Pikachu is the winner! We are now down to one pokémon per trainer!"_

The entire stadium exploded with cheers when Gyarados fainted. Everyone in the building could sense the magnitude and excitement of the battle. Each trainer was now down to his last pokémon! Ash had sacrificed Glalie so that Pikachu would be able to quickly defeat the water-type dragon.

"Awesome, Pikachu! I knew that would work!" Ash pumped his fist.

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu jumped up and down excitedly.

"This is it, buddy! One-on-one!" Ash said, bending down to talk to his most trusted friend. "We both know what pokémon Lance has saved for last… just do your best."

Pikachu nodded and scampered out to near midfield with a fierce and unwavering look on its face. Lance, still with a look of subdued confidence on his face, took out his final pokéball and paused.

"This kid sure is something special," he said to himself. "My, how much he has grown since I last saw him."

Then with a swift flick of his wrist, Lance tossed the ball calmly onto the field. Out of the white energy that was released from the sphere, a bulky orange dragon appeared on the field. It had small teal-colored wings and thick tree-trunk legs.

"There it is," Ash said to himself. "Dragonite."

"_And the final showdown of this epic battle will pair Ketchum's Pikachu against Lance's famous Dragonite!" _the announcer explained over the loud speaker.

Ash knew he and Pikachu were in for the fight of their lives. Dragonite was world famous for its role in Lance's world championship four years ago, and Ash had seen how powerful it was on numerous occasions, both on television and in real life.

But the fifteen-year-old took comfort in the fact that his Pikachu was pretty amazing as well. Ash thought back to the countless number of times that Pikachu had been there for him... from saving his life from the angry flock of Spearow on his tenth birthday (the day Ash and Pikachu had first met), to all the amazing adventures the two of them had shared over the years.

"Okay, Pikachu!" Ash shouted, feeling emboldened by those memories. "It's time to win this thing!"

"Pikah!" The electric-type rodent gave a sound of agreement.

"_Let the battle begin!" _the referee bellowed.

"Dragonite, start this off with a Twister!" Lance directed confidently.

Dragonite's tail began to glow. It then whipped it in a circular motion until a vicious tornado of air was formed and flew towards Pikachu, kicking up huge amounts of dust and debris in the process.

Pikachu lowered his head and shut his eyes, trying to shield himself from the flying chunks of concrete and the speed of the wind. But the diminutive mouse was simply too small to hold his ground, and the Twister picked him up easily and threw him back with ease.

Pikachu crash-landed hard a few feet in front of Ash and squealed in agony. The fur on his head was now covered in dust and looked disheveled. The pokémon quickly jumped back to his feet and shook off the pain.

"Okay, Pikachu! Our turn! Use Thunderbolt!"

Again, sparks flew from Pikachu's cheeks and it leaped up into the air, shooting another blast of raw electricity towards Dragonite. The jagged bolt of lightning smacked its target, who recoiled slightly from the shock, but remained relatively unscathed since its two thick, muscular legs remained rooted to the concrete, grounding much of the electricity. Lance decided to keep Dragonite on the ground for the duration of the battle so as to not leave itself completely vulnerable to Pikachu's incredibly powerful Thunderbolt attacks.

"Let's try a Dragon Claw, Dragonite!" Lance ordered.

Pikachu, who had been agilely darting around the field while trying to fire Thunderbolts from different directions, yelped when Dragonite sliced its stomach with a green-glowing claw. Pikachu tumbled across the field, leaving a trail of tiny blood droplets behind it as it rolled. It again returned to its feet, still refusing to relent.

"Pikachu! Are you okay?"

Pikachu just gritted its teeth and growled at Dragonite, signaling to Ash that it was ready to continue to fight.

"Quick Attack!"

Dragonite wound up from another swipe at Pikachu with its Dragon Claw, but the lightning-fast rodent was able to lunge out of the way and struck Lance's pokemon in the face with a swift head-butt. Pikachu moved so fast that it looked like a yellow blur when it moved.

Dragonite balked a bit from being hit in the jaw, but it still looked almost unscathed. It bellowed loudly as it continued to swing its sharp claws at the scampering electric-mouse, who was doing its best to elude further damage.

"Dragonite… Wing Attack now!" Lance commanded.

The small pair of wings on Dragonite's back started to glow bright white, and the beefy beast was slowly lifted off of the ground. Then, like a slingshot, Dragonite whizzed towards Pikachu and pounded him with its glowing wing. Pikachu again did a series of backwards somersaults and smashed into the concrete field. But yet again, the mouse climbed tenaciously to a standing position, refusing to lose.

Pikachu was now breathing heavily and had many cuts and slash marks all over his furry body. Ash had a look of concern on his face, knowing that momentum was clearly on Lance's side.

* * *

"Pikachu is getting pummeled out there!" Dawn groaned.

"It certainly doesn't look good right now," Johanna observed with a somber tone in her voice.

"Yeah, but Pikachu isn't giving up!" Max argued. "It could still come back!"

"I hope so, Max," his sister replied.

Everyone except Misty continued to discuss Ash's chances during brief timeout on the field. She was sitting at the edge of her seat with a terribly tense look on her face. For a few seconds she let her emotions boil up inside her. Then…without warning, she exploded. Misty stood up and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"COME ON, ASH! PIKACHU! YOU CAN DO IT!" she screamed so loud that May jumped. Several people who were seated in front of the group again looked back at the very loud girl, but Misty could not care any less. She desperately wanted Ash to win, and she was far too excited and nervous to keep quiet.

"You know he can't hear you from here, right?" Dawn said, looking over with an agitated look.

* * *

Dawn was right. Ash hadn't heard Misty scream from the stands, but for whatever reason, the boy stopped and looked into the crowd to his right, where (he thought) his mother was seated. He didn't know why he looked over there, but he told himself that seeing his friends' faces might inspire him, or something like that. That was when he saw her.

"Misty?"

Ash almost screamed when he saw a familiar red-headed girl seated in the front row near midfield where his mother was supposed to be sitting. Despite the fact that he was in the middle of the biggest and most excited battle of the entire tournament… Ash felt as though time had stopped.

Despite all the crowd noise, the shouting, the cheering, the blaring background music that was being pumped over the speakers… Ash heard nothing but silence. Despite the almost one hundred thousand rabid fans that were packed into the enormous stadium…Ash only saw one person.

It was really her! It hadn't just been a result of his coma or some sort of dream… he had actually seen her at his bedside in the hospital earlier in the week. She was back! The girl who he had struck such a special friendship with all those years ago. The girl who had saved his and Pikachu's life when she had fished them out of the river. The girl who he -

"Dragonite! Hyper Beam!" Ash's thoughts were interrupted by Lance's voice. Ash jerked his head back towards the playing field, remembering that he had a task at hand.

Somehow though, the battle seemed different now that Ash knew Misty was here watching. Somehow he seemed more confident… more at ease.

"Pikachu! Dodge that Hyper Beam and hit Dragonite with an Iron Tail!" Ash directed.

The stream of white-hot energy barely missed Pikachu when he leaped to the side. Sensing his chance to strike, the speedy rodent sprinted towards the Dragon-type, who was now sucking wind furiously after expelling so much energy. Pikachu's jagged tail proceeded to glow, and in a swift spinning motion, he whipped Dragonite across the neck with his Iron Tail attack.

"Pikah!" Pikachu landed on his feet after connecting with the attack. Dragonite was clutching its neck, howling angrily from the wound Ash's pokémon had inflicted upon it.

"Nice one, buddy!" Ash cheered, forcing himself not to glance over at Misty again to gauge her response. He had to focus on the battle now.

From that point forward, Ash and Pikachu more than recovered the momentum of the battle. Dragonite, now legitimately fatigued, was having trouble landing anymore attacks.

Both Ash and his Pokemon looked rejuvenated. Pikachu was dashing all around the field with blinding speed, avoiding most of Dragonite's attacks while managing to land a few Quick Attacks and Thunderbolts here and there. Finally, with Lance and his dragon on their heels, Ash saw an opening for one of his favorite moves.

"Volt Tackle, Pikachu!"

Pikachu's entire body became engulfed in a yellow flame of electricity as it picked up even more speed.

"Pika-Pika-Pika-Pika-Pika-Pikaaaah!" It sprinted towards Dragonite, who couldn't move fast enough to avoid the tackle.

Dragonite fell to the ground with a loud crashing sound. The crowd went silent, wondering if this was the end. Ash's heart skipped a beat. Was this it? Had he actually defeated his idol?

But after a few seconds on the ground, Dragonite managed to stand up. It was clearly shaken up, however.

Unfortunately for Ash, Pikachu looked very tuckered out as well. The Volt Tackle had been effective, but it had also drained Ash's little buddy of much of his energy. It was clear that the battle would be over soon, one way or another.

"Dragonite, I know you're tired! But just a little more! Twister again!"

The funnel of fierce wind again shot at Pikachu, but this time, the electric-type sprinted directly towards it at full speed.

"Volt Tackle again, Pikachu! Charge right through that Twister!"

"Pika-Pika-Pika-Pika…" Pikachu's voice was lost in the storm as he became a bright yellow jet stream. The blur of yellow light shot straight through the Twister with ease and again struck Dragonite in the gut, knocking the large Dragon-type to its knees.

Pikachu bounced back off of Dragonite's belly and landed awkwardly on its feet near the centerfield line, looking incredibly tired and on the verge of fainting. Dragonite's eyes were fluttering and squinty, as if the pokemon was trying desperately to hang onto consciousness. It was still on its knees, unable to stand up.

Ash felt a rush of adrenaline. This was it.

"Pikachu! Finish this off! Use- _AAARRRRRGG!_"

Ash was interrupted by a crippling pain in his chest. It felt like a bomb had gone off inside his heart. The searing pain nearly brought the boy to his knees, and he screamed before he could finish his command. Pikachu turned and looked back to see what was wrong with Ash. The crowd seemed confused as to what the hold up was, as most of the spectators were too far away to tell that the young trainer was agonizing at his end of the field.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu screamed with concern on his face, totally forgetting about finishing off his opponent.

After only a few seconds, Ash managed to steady himself, and the pain slowly began to subside. But it was too late now. That second or two of hesitation was all Lance needed. Before the boy was able to completely recompose himself, he heard the Dragon Master's voice scream definitively from the other side. Apparently Lance hadn't realized that Ash had been hurting either.

"Dragonite! Quickly, use Hyper Beam!"

"Pikachu! Watch out!"

But it was no use. Pikachu turned his head back towards the action on the field just in time to see the multicolored beam of powerful energy heading straight towards him. He had no time to react. The Hyper Beam struck Pikachu head-on, and it was over. The tiny electric rodent was thrown back like he had been hit by a truck and landed face-first onto the concrete. This time, he did not get back up.

"_Pikachu is unable to battle! Dragonite is the victor! … Which means that Lance the Dragon Master has defeated Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"_

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* * *

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**_TO BE CONTINUED!_**

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_Well, there was the battle!  
To those of you who are like, "WTF!" I assure you that everything will be cleared up in the next few chapters as to why the battle ended how it ended. _

_As always THANKS for reading! PLEASE REVIEW!_


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Coping With Defeat

_Here is Chapter 16 y'all! After this chapter, unfortunately I probably won't be updating quite so often. But THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to read... and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! to those who have left feedback and reviews. It really helps inspire me to write when I hear other people's opinions. So yeah, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE continue to leave reviews/comments! I love you guys!_

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**CHAPTER FIFTEEN: COPING WITH DEFEAT**

_By Legacy_

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"Pikachu!" Ash cried out. He ran over to his fallen comrade and scooped the pokémon up in his arms. "Are you all right, buddy?"

Pikachu didn't respond immediately, but eventually the battered battler came to and looked up at the boy.

"Pi… ka-pi," he squeaked meekly and groggily, barely opening his beady eyes.

Ash forced himself to smile comfortingly down at Pikachu, who had battled valiantly. Inside, however, Ash was absolutely crushed. His shoulders slouched, his head drooped down towards the ground, and he made sure the bill of his hat was pulled way down so that it covered his eyes.

He had been on the verge of the biggest victory of his entire life over the legendary trainer whom he had looked up to for years. But now, somehow, the boy found himself taking the long walk of shame back to the Pokémon Center as a loser once again.

_"I was so close… but what happened?" _he thought to himself.

As he gloomily trudged across the battle field towards the exit tunnel while cradling his battle-worn pokémon in his right arm, Ash tried hard to wrap his brain around what had occurred just before Lance's dragonite had finished Pikachu off. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't make any sense out of it. One minute, Ash had been in total control of the battle, ready to command Pikachu to finish it with a final Thunderbolt… and the next thing he knew, Ash was watching a Hyper Beam defeat his final pokémon and win the battle for Lance.

The circumambient crowd noise was still reverberating in the background of his thoughts, but Ash wasn't paying any attention to the fans who still packed the arena. He was still staring straight down at his sneakers as he walked slowly across the concrete field, focused on nothing but the confusion and disappointment that was drowning him from the inside.

"Hey, Ash." He suddenly heard Lance's voice from nearby over the roar of the stadium.

The teen stopped and looked up to see the red-headed Dragon Master smiling sympathetically at him. Lance patted him on the back as the he joined Ash in walking off the field towards the exit tunnel.

"Great battle, Lance… Good luck the rest of the way," the younger trainer said, trying to sound gracious but unable to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"Listen Ash," Lance replied as they walked. "I noticed that you kind of hesitated there at the end… It looked like you were hurt or something. Perhaps you were still feeling the effects of your injuries."

Somehow, Ash didn't think the sudden explosion of pain he had felt coarsing through his entire body had been due to his injuries. The suffering had been more agonizing than anything he had felt following his surgery, yet had been mysteriously brief… just long enough to prevent Ash from winning the battle. The timing of it all seemed fishy. But then again, what else could have caused it? It was probably just the intense stress he had been under, he figured.

"Uh… oh, yeah," Ash stammered, but refusing to accept any excuse for his loss, he then said, "No… I'm fine. You beat me fair and square, Lance."

"Well, that's modest of you to say, Ash, but I'm not so sure. You had Dragonite beat there at the end, and I saw you kind of pause there for a second. I felt bad about winning that way… I really wanted to just kind of wait and let you compose yourself, but I didn't really have a choice. I had to attack, Ash. I'm sorry."

"I understand, Lance," Ash said sadly, finally conceding that Lance had been right about the end of the battle.

Ash wasn't upset with him at all. He totally understood that Lance couldn't have just let him win because he had looked to be hurting. Ash wouldn't have even wanted to win that way. But nonetheless, he felt extremely downhearted about the defeat. Lance was about to console the boy further, but was interrupted by a television reporter who was requesting an on-camera interview about his victory. The winning trainer stopped to oblige, leaving the boy to continue on his long trip back to the Pokémon Center.

The crowd had apparently noticed Ash wincing in pain during the battle as well, probably assuming, like Lance had, that it had been due to the fact that the kid had nearly died not even a week before. They cheered even louder and gave him a standing ovation as he neared the tunnel to leave the field. Chants of '_Ketchum' _again boomed throughout the arena, exhibiting just how appreciative and sympathetic the fans were to see the young boy from Pallet put up such a fierce battle despite all that he had been through over the past week.

But Ash hardly noticed the applause. He gave a half-hearted head-nod to the spectators as he left the field, but was still too upset to fully appreciate the moment. As the boy entered the dark tunnel back to the Pokémon Center, he sadly replayed the final moments of the match in his head. It had been that brief moment… that split second, during which that excruciating pain had interrupted his final attack… almost as though fate had wanted desperately to prevent him from achieving his dream. The pain had been so crippling, so unendurable, so intense that Ash had not been able to move any of the muscles in his body. By the time Ash had finally made his way into the warmly-lit Pokémon Center lobby, he was more than depressed.

"Great battle, Ash!" Nurse Joy said with a smile when he approached the front desk to drop off his pokémon for healing. "I'm not sure it was very smart to be out there in your condition, but you look all right. You should go get some rest. You are more than welcome to stay here at the Pokémon Center for as long as you like."

"Uh… Thanks, Nurse Joy," Ash mumbled dejectedly, not really feeling like talking. "But I think I'm gonna head back home as soon as possible."

After he had dropped off Pikachu and his other injured pokémon for treatment, Ash turned and walked away before Joy could say anything else. His head was still down as he approached the lobby and headed towards his room to collect his things.

It was then that he remembered the gold coin, which he had left inside the dresser drawer in his room. Prior to the match, Ash had decided to again leave behind his mysteriously powerful 'good luck charm' in the name of sportsmanship and also because he wished to truly measure his talents again Lance. But now, with the sting of defeat fresh in his mind, Ash began to regret his decision to go without the magical coin.

But suddenly, all the confusion, depression, anger and regret that had been swirling around inside Ash's mind was instantly erased when he saw who was waiting for him in the lobby. He saw Brock, May, Max, and Dawn's normal smiling faces, but right now, he hardly noticed them. The only person he was looking at was the fair-skinned, copper-haired girl who was standing alongside them. His brown eyes grew wide when they met the familiar gaze of the aqua-green ones belonging to his old friend.

"Misty!" Ash shouted from across the room, sounding slightly shocked.

He stood frozen in place for a few moments just staring at the beautiful girl, almost as if he wanted to preserve this moment in his brain forever. He felt a sudden sense of warmth and happiness wash over him, cleansing him of the harsh feeling of sadness he had been experiencing. He had seen Misty in the stands during the battle, but with how the match had ended, he had nearly forgotten that she was here.

Finally, Ash took off in a full-on sprint across the lobby towards Misty, who was wiping happy tears from her eyes.

"Hi, Ash," she said simply as Ash nearly tackled her to the floor with the tightest bear-hug she had ever experienced.

"Misty!" Ash said again as he wrapped her up in his arms. "It's so great to see you! I can't believe you're here!"

Misty couldn't say anything more. Her emotions had rendered her totally speechless. Her eyes were closed, her chin gently resting on Ash's shoulder. A look of calm but joyful bliss was on her face as the two friends continued to embrace.

The rest of the group watched silently as the two long-time friends finally (officially) reunited for the first time in years. Brock had a smile on his face, trying not to chuckle at Ash and the uncharacteristically affectionate way he was acting towards the girl. May, Max and Johanna were also grinning at the touching reunion. Dawn, however, didn't look so pleased. She didn't speak or voice her displeasure audibly in anyway, but she wore a definite expression of envy on her face.

Finally, Misty and Ash pulled away from each other and the former spoke.

"It's good to see you too," she said sincerely, her lip quivering.

She looked into Ash's twinkling eyes, took a deep breathe and opened her mouth to finally apologize for everything: for how she had not shown up to the hospital immediately after his battle with Zak, for how she hadn't called or wrote to him recently while she was busy feeling depressed at the gym… but most of all, for how she had failed him as a friend over the past few years. But as Misty started to speak, Ash interrupted her and gave her a very serious look.

"Misty, it's okay… really, it is," he said firmly, as if he already knew what she was going to say and understood exactly how guilty she felt.

And just like that, with those simple yet comforting and rejuvenating words from the boy who meant more to her than any other person in the world, Misty felt as though the weight of that world had just been lifted from her shoulders. She and Ash shared one last affectionate look before he turned to the rest of his friends.

"You were great out there, Ash," Dawn said as she quickly approached to give him a hug as well, obviously trying to imitate the intimate connection that she had seen him and Misty sharing.

"Thanks," Ash said simply, not seeming nearly as thrilled to see Dawn as he had been to see Misty, but happy nonetheless. He didn't notice the very discontented expression on Dawn's face as the two pulled apart.

"You battled very well, young man," Johanna commended after Ash and her daughter were done hugging. "The match was incredible!"

"Yeah, you almost had 'em," Brock said in more of a congratulatory tone than a consoling one. He slapped Ash lovingly on the back.

"I thought for sure you were gonna win, Ash!" Max added, still clearly buzzing with excitement from the battle. "But even though Lance pulled it out in the end, you were still really awesome out there!"

"Thanks, guys," Ash replied dispiritedly, feeling the sense of exhaustion, befuddlement and extreme disappointment return to the forefront of his psyche when he was reminded that he had lost.

"So," May piped up. "What do we do now?"

"Now," Ash said, looking grateful that May had changed the subject and that none of the group had apparently noticed the incident at the end of the match. "Let's catch the first plane out of here. I just want to go ho-"

"Ash Ketchum! Oh my god! It's him!" a couple of screaming female voices interrupted him.

Two teenage girls came running up from across the lobby towards the group with giddy looks on their faces. One was a tall and leggy blonde with beautiful tan skin and glistening emerald green eyes. She was wearing a tight-fitting pink halter-top and a scandalously short skirt, which showed off her provocatively curvaceous figure. The other was a big-bosomed, raven-haired girl with stunning brown eyes and full, plump and glossy lips. She was wearing a white mid-drift-revealing tank top with a very low-plunging neckline and an impossibly tiny pair of denim shorts, which left very little to the imagination.

Both gorgeous teens, who looked a few years older than Ash, smiled alluringly at him, but Brock sprang into his usual love-struck theatrics before either of them could speak. He fell to his knees at the girls' feet and grabbed each girl by the hand.

"Why hello, my two bodacious beauties!" Brock said in a whimsical tone of voice, his mouth hanging open like he had been hypnotized. "My name's Brock! It truly is an honor to have the privilege of basking in the wonderful glow of your allure! My dears, if your collective beauty were sunlight, you'd shine from a million light-years awa-"

"Ugh, out of the way, you creeper," the blonde girl sneered and shoved Brock out of the way before he could finish his histrionics.

"Yeah… we're not interested in _you_," the other girl added snidely. "We're here to talk to Ash."

Both girls sauntered up to Ash and stood closely on either side of him. They batted their eyelashes and smiled sweetly at him.

"Do you… ummm… think we could have your autograph, Ash?" the blonde squealed.

The black-haired girl took out a small sheet of paper from inside her brassiere and handed it to the boy along with a pen. Ash looked a little perturbed at the request. He still wasn't used to all the attention he had been getting ever since his battle with Zak, but he accommodated the girls' wish and scribbled his name on the piece of paper.

Misty and Dawn both glared at the two promiscuous girls with looks of rage on their faces, but the two older fan-girls completely ignored their presence. Even Johanna seemed disapproving of the two groupies.

"Oh my god! You were like… sooooo awesome out there, Ash," the brunette cooed as she grabbed Ash's right arm affectionately. "Lance totally got lucky there at the end."

"Yeah. You looked _really _amazing," the blonde said flirtatiously, leaning in close to Ash so that she was almost whispering into his ear.

"Uh… thanks," Ash replied, looking somewhat uncomfortable yet flattered and completely aware of the two girls' attractiveness. Unlike when he was younger, Ash was now very aware of girls, especially beautiful ones. "What are your names?"

"I'm Kaylee," the blonde one said with a flirty giggle.

"My name's Sophia," the other girl said.

"Well it's nice to meet you both," Ash replied with a friendly smile then motioned towards the others. "These are my friends, Brock, Max, Ma-"

"Anyways, Ash," Kaylee interrupted, clearly uninterested in meeting or even speaking to the others. "We were wondering… since you're not going to be battling anymore in the tournament… if you wanted to hang out with us for the rest of the week."

"Yeah," Sophia agreed, looking up at him hopefully. "We could _definitely _show you a good time! We're gonna be going out and partying all week! And then, maybe you could escort us both to the championship match on Wednesday!"

"That sounds really fun," Ash said uneasily, "but-"

The two girls were pulling Ash along with them towards the Pokémon Center's exit in an attempt to coax him to go with them.

"Come on, Ash!" Sophia urged as she batted her eyelashes at Ash.

"Yea! And if you come with us… I _promise _we'll make it worth your while," Kaylee added with a seductive wink as she playfully stroked Ash's chest.

Seeing this set Misty and Dawn off. Looking enraged, both girls clenched their fists and looked ready to get violent with these two bimbos.

"Um… excuse me," Dawn admonished. "But Ash is here with _us_!" She stepped forward to grab Ash by the arm in order to pull him away from the two girls.

"Yeah! Who are you two anyway? Why don't you go find someone else to bother!" Misty growled, stepping in to assist Dawn.

"As if!" Kaylee hissed, finally acknowledging the presence of Ash's friends. She gave both Dawn and Misty a nasty look. "Why would he settle for _you _two, when he could have _us_?"

"Yeah, come on, Ash!" Sophia said as the two girls dragged a bewildered Ash towards the Pokémon Center's front entrance.

"See? Look!" Kaylee pointed outside through the transparent sliding glass doors.

Outside, Ash and the rest of his friends saw a long, black limousine parked directly in front of the Pokémon Center. All of its windows were tinted black, matching the limo's glossy paint job. Somehow however, its extremely dark profile as well as the bizarreness of this whole situation made the car seem more suspicious and ominous rather than a vehicle for some sort of joy ride.

Still, Ash considered the girls' offer. It did sound fun to explore the city and let off some steam after all that had gone on during the previous week, especially with two beautiful female companions. And as a red-blooded, heterosexual teenage boy, the suggestive manner in which Kaylee had promised to make the trip "worth his while" definitely aroused his interest.

Despite those reasons to stay however, being around the city would only remind him of how he wasn't participating in the tournament anymore and of the heart-breaking fashion in which he had been eliminated. Returning home would be a nice way to take his mind off things and would give him a nice chance to relax.

"Thanks for the offer, ladies," Ash said finally. "But, I think I'm just gonna head back to Pallet Town. You two have fun though!"

And despite the two girls' last-ditch efforts to change his mind, Ash politely bid them farewell and turned back to return to his friends, much to Misty and Dawn's relief.

"A very wise decision," Johanna praised Ash as the girls turned to leave. "Now… Why don't we head back to the hotel and pick up your mother. Then we can go get something to eat and talk about catching a flight out of here."

"Sounds good," Ash replied, momentarily forgetting about losing at the mention of food. "I'm starving!"

Everyone rolled their eyes when Ash's stomach growled loudly right on cue.

Brock stared at Kaylee and Sophia with a look of yearning as they both stomped away angrily, obviously disappointed and irritated with Ash's decision. The nineteen-year-old looked like he was about to turn around and chase after them, but Misty and Max each grabbed hold of one of Brock's ears just in time to yank him back.

"Oh no you don't!" Misty chided. "We're leaving!"

"We should pick up a leash and muzzle for Brock on the way home," Max added.

"Ow! Owww! Okay! Okay! I'm coming!"

The rest of the group laughed as they exited the Pokémon Center.

* * *

The big-screen television in the boss's office showed Lance, the Dragon Master being interviewed on the field following his victory.

"... _Well, it was definitely a well-fought battle, and I feel fortunate to win. My pokémon battled hard, and they gave it everything they had. As everyone saw, the way Ash battled tonight was inspiring to say the least. He should be proud about everything he did during this tournament."_

The television showed video highlights of the battle as Lance's voice spoke in the background. Footage of Ash and Lance commanding their pokémon in battle rolled across the wide screen.

"_Ketchum has definitely been through a lot this week," _the reporter said, leading into his next question. "_What are your thoughts about how he battled, especially considering that just days ago, he was in critical condition at the hospital?"_

A close-up video clip of Ash in action flashed across the screen on cue with the reporter's mention of him.

"_Yeah. It's amazing." _Lance answered. "_Like I said, seeing him out here so quickly after being in the hospital was inspiring. And as you saw, the crowd loved him. I have nothing but the utmost respect for him as a trainer and a person. He's a very gifted young man who clearly loves his pokémon very much. Ash definitely has a very bright future ahead of h-"_

The image of Ash's face on the television suddenly froze as the boss had paused the T.V. with his remote control. He jumped up from his desk, from which he had been watching the coverage, and walked up to the T.V. in order to get a closer look at the boy's face.

"Those eyes..." the man said, observing the still-shot of the boy. "It's him all right. I _knew _I had heard the name before!"

"What are you talking about?" a male voice asked from the other side of the room. "Of course you've heard his name. That Ketchum kid has been all over the news the entire week."

It was Sai, who was seated in a chair a few feet from the boss' desk. He had since changed out of his tattered and torn prison-issued jump suite and was now wearing the same all-black uniform that many of the other Team Rocket agents had been wearing. His tangle of long, silver hair had been cut short, and his unkempt beard was now gone, revealing the scarred and leathery face of the fugitive.

"No, you fool," the boss hissed. "I'm talking about many years ago. I know this kid! Well… indirectly, I know him."

"Huh? What do you mean, _indirectly_?" Sai asked, looking puzzled.

"It's not important," the boss said, looking rather pleased with himself. "But, I do know that it is now more imperative than ever that we capture Ketchum. He could definitely be of great use to us!"

"Well, didn't you say you already had someone working on capturing the boy?"

"Yes," the boss replied. "I have two agents in Sapphire-"

Just then, the intercom on the boss' desk lit up and beeped, interrupting the two men. The man in the business suit reached over and punched one of the buttons.

"Yes?"

"_Boss? I have Agent Kay on the line, sir."_

"Good, transfer her thorough."

…

"_Hello, Boss?" _a female voice said after a second or two.

"Ah, Agent Kay… or should I call you 'Kaylee?' We were just talking about you. I trust you are calling to tell me that you've successfully seized the boy."

"_Uh… not exactly, sir."_

"I beg your pardon?" the boss replied, his anger clear in his voice as he spoke over the intercom.

"_Well," _Kay said, sounding nervous. "_We tried to convince the kid to come with us at the stadium's Pokémon Center, but he uh… he refused our advances."_

"This is very troubling, Agent," the boss scolded. "I trusted that you and your friend would be able to accomplish this task! How hard is it for two half-naked women to seduce a teenage boy for fuck's sake?"

"_My apologies, sir! We practically threw ourselves at the kid and showed him the limousine, but he wouldn't bite."_

"So where is Ketchum now?"

"_Well, he left the Pokémon Center. He said he was returning home to Pallet Town. But I'm sure he hasn't left town yet, Boss… I could catch up to him and seize him by force. I doubt he'd be able to resist me again with a gun pointed at his head!"_

"Absolutely not, Agent Kay!" the boss bellowed. "We can't risk a disturbance before the attack on the stadium. You will return to Agent Cortez's fleet… they are still stationed just outside of the city in preparation for the attack. I will get someone more capable to capture the boy."

"_Very well," _the woman replied in a defeated and timid tone before the intercom clicked off.

"So what's the plan now, 'Oh Fearless Leader?'" Sai asked in somewhat of a sarcastic tone of voice.

But the boss didn't look too concerned or distraught. He looked deep in thought as he scratched his chin. He simply remained silent for a few moments before speaking.

"Kay may have failed me, but I think I have another idea for capturing that kid," the man said happily. A crooked smile stretched across the boss' face as he turned the television back on and sat back in his chair.

"Care to share?" Sai replied.

"Oh, don't worry yourself, Sai," the man in the black suit said as he poured himself another glass of scotch and took out another cigar from his pocket. "Everything will be taken care of."

"I hate to seem impatient, your majesty," Sai said condescendingly. "But, you seem to be exhausting all your resources and manpower on this stadium attack, and now capturing this Ketchum kid… What about finding the crystals?"

The boss gritted his teeth with anger at the constant disrespect Sai seemed to show him, but swallowed his pride because Sai was the only person alive who knew where the crystals were supposedly located. The boss still desperately wanted to locate the other two gems, but wanted to make sure that the original plan of ransacking Sapphire Stadium went smoothly first.

"I cannot afford to spare many of my men to assist in the search for the crystals until the attack is over," the boss said, thinking out loud. "But perhaps I can scrounge up a few former agents that used to serve under the previous regime to assist you. You and they can work on searching for the first crystal while the attack commences…after that, I will be able to allocate more soldiers to your aid."

"These 'former agents' you speak of," Sai responded skeptically. "What's their story? Are they reliable? I assume if they were worth anything, they'd still be part of your operation."

The boss paused for a moment, pondering how to answer the question.

"Well, under the old regime, I can assure you that they were as determined and relentless as any agents I have ever been around."

"Well, would they be open to rejoining the organization after all these years?"

"I'm sure for the right price, they would be more than willing," the boss remarked.

"Good. How do I reach them? I want to set off to find the first orb as soon as possible," Sai said with a wide, sinister grin.

* * *

Ash, his mother and his friends had remained in Sapphire City for the night, and caught a morning flight to Viridian City.

Delia had invited the entire group over to the house in Pallet for the weekend as a thank you to the others for coming all the way out to support Ash in the tournament. She promised to cook them all their favorite dishes, do their laundry and whatever else she could do to repay them for their loyalty to her son. They all had enjoyed reuniting with each other and weren't ready to say their goodbyes yet, so everyone agreed to travel with Ash and Delia to Pallet Town.

May and Max were excited to visit the quaint countryside town and to see Professor Oak again. Brock lived nearby anyway, and certainly didn't mind hanging out with his friends for a few more days before he returned to Pewter City. Misty wasn't in any hurry to leave Ash either, and while the tournament was still going on, she was sure that very few trainers would show up to challenge the Cerulean City Gym. Johanna had originally planned on her and Dawn heading home to Twinleaf Town, but after a lot of pleading from her daughter, finally agreed to accompany the others as well.

From Viridian City, the group took two taxi cabs to Pallet Town. Delia, Max, Brock, Ash and Pikachu rode in one, with May, Misty, Dawn and Johanna in the other. Ash felt more at ease as he stared out of the moving vehicle's window, surveying all the familiar sights. The trees, the small brooks and creeks, even the large patches of grass… Ash knew them all like the back of his hand. The anguish from him being eliminated from the tournament still weighed heavily on his mind, but at least he was home now and surrounded by his friends.

As they drove down Route One's dirt pathway from Viridian to Pallet, Ash, with Pikachu snoozing in his lap, thought back to his younger days when even this area close to his home had been entirely new and extremely exciting to him as he explored it. The world seemed like such a gigantic and mysterious place back when he was ten. The thrill of encountering strange and new pokémon and people, as well as traveling around strange and new places was what had made the early years of his career as a trainer so fun, so memorable… so special.

As the road led the cars closer to his hometown, Ash realized how much he missed those simpler days of his youth. Back then, especially early on after leaving home for the first time as a naïve ten-year-old, life hadn't been about competing at global pokémon tournaments or being interviewed by big-shot reporters. It wasn't about battling under the bright lights in front of millions of people or about T.V. cameras, autograph seekers, and limousines.

Back then, being a pokémon trainer had been strictly about exploration, curiosity and friendship. Ash remembered having so much fun traveling around with Pikachu and the rest of his friends, camping out in the wilderness underneath the stars at night, enjoying Brock's hearty cooking, and feeling the incomparable spark of excitement whenever he encountered a new pokémon or won a new gym badge.

Finally, Ash saw the comforting sight of Professor Oak's laboratory sitting on top of the grassy hill which overlooked the entire town. The big wooden windmill that sat in front of the lab was churning steadily in the breeze. He felt a warm feeling of happiness when he saw the beauty of his hometown from the car's window. The sky above tiny Pallet Town looked a lot bluer to Ash than it had in Sapphire City, the grass much greener, and the majestic mountains in the distance looked much more beautiful than the big gray skyscrapers and smoggy haze that dominated the big city's skyline.

But Ash's thoughts were discontinued when the cars finally stopped outside of his house. He looked out the window to see practically the entire town all standing in his front yard. Everyone was smiling and waving at the cars. Two huge banners were hanging up behind the large crowd.

One read, _"WELCOME HOME ASH!"_

The other said, _"PALLET IS PROUD OF YOU!"_

Ash looked over at his mother who had a knowing grin on her face, as did Max and Brock.

"You planned this, Mom?"

"Of course, honey. The entire town is so proud of you, dear. Everyone thought a welcome home party was in order!"

"Pi-Kachu!" Pikachu had awoken as soon as the car stopped and looked excited to be home as well.

Ash smiled. He had been looking forward to just sitting at home and relaxing, but he figured that the idea of a party didn't sound half-bad. Besides, he thought to himself, where there's a party… there's bound to be a bunch of food!

Ash eagerly exited the taxi to the sound of a resounding applause. The crowd wasn't nearly as big and their applause weren't nearly as loud as what he had experienced in Sapphire Stadium, but somehow, this ovation felt a hundred times better.

* * *

_*****MEANWHILE*****_

_**

* * *

**_

"Step right up! Step right up! Have your money ready, ladies and gentlemen!" a bright-eyed and enthusiastic young man shouted over the modest group of people crowded around the tent he was standing in front of. "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

He was wearing a black top hat over his bright blue hair and a circus ring-leader's uniform.

"Welcome, welcome, Goldenrod City Fair patrons! Step right up! Step right up, and witness the amazing, the stupendous, the astounding 'Talking Meowth!'" The young man's female assistant, a slender young woman with long, rose-red hair hollered. "Just ten dollars for a look at the only talking meowth in the world!"

The young woman, who was wearing a long, glamorous evening gown imbued with thousands of shimmering rhinestones. She looked like a traditional magician's assistant with how she was dressed. She was posing in front of the tent, which presumably contained the "Amazing Talking Meowth."

Many of the few dozen or so people crowded around the entrance of the tent just scoffed at the notion of a talking meowth. Most of the group shook their heads as they walked away in either disbelief or disgust.

"Wait! Don't you want to see it?"

"Hold on! Where are you all going!" the anger in the woman's voice increased with every person that left the scene.

_"There's no such thing as a talking Meowth!"  
"I wouldn't pay ten dollars to see it even it there was one!"  
"Come on, let's go ride the rides!"_  
_"I want a corndog, Mommy!"_

Once all the people had dispersed, the young man exhaled sadly, slumping his shoulders.

"Guess it's back to the old drawing board, Jess," he said to the young woman gloomily.

"Those stupid people! How dare they doubt us! I hate the fair!" she screamed disgustedly. "Meowth! Come out here! Everyone's gone!"

"How are we evah gonna manage to make any dough if all our schemes keep tankin' like dis?" the "Amazing Talking Meowth" said as he emerged from the tent with a defeated look on his whiskered face.

"James, I'm hungry!" Jesse's shrill voice complained. "Did we make any money? We've been at this rotten city fair for three days now!"

"Let's see," James said as he whipped out a sheet of paper that he had apparently written their finances down on. "Well with the money we spent on this tent… these outfits… and the fair's booth rent… that leaves us with…about negative $121."

"You mean we _lost_ money wit dis stupid idea of yours!" the feline pokemon hissed in anger.

"Well, we've been out of real work for years now, Meowth! Feel free to come up with a better plan any day now!" James retorted.

The three of them all sadly plunked down on the ground. They watched sadly as the many men, women, and children around them enjoyed the Goldenrod City Fair while they remained down on their luck, broke and hungry.

Suddenly, the trio spotted a vehicle of some kind approaching from the distance.

"Hey, look at that!" Jessie pointed.

"I wonder who that is? Don't they know that they're driving right through the midway?"

"I don know, but dere comin' dis way!"

A black SUV with tinted windows approached and pulled right up to the tent where Jessie, James and Meowth were seated in front of. An emotionless man in a charcoal gray suit with matching tie and dark sunglasses emerged from the vehicle without saying a word.

"Hey, you can't park that thing here!" Jessie said angrily. "We're trying to work here! Who do you think you are!"

But the mysterious man remained silent. He reached into the breast pocket of his suit and pulled out a single sheet of paper and handed it to James, who was standing closest to the man. Looking puzzled, James took the piece of paper.

"It looks like a letter of some kind," James said.

"Gee, tanks Captain Obvious!" Meowth ridiculed.

Ignoring Meowth, James began to scan the letter silently, inaudibly mouthing the words as he read. His eyes grew wider and wider as he continued on.

"Well!" Jessie finally wailed impatiently. "What does it say, James!"

James looked up with a crafty look on his face. He read the letter out loud, clearing his throat before he began.

* * *

_To the former Team Rocket agents, Jessie and James,_

__

You don't know me, but my name is Sai. I am working on a very important mission, the details of which I cannot divulge at the present time, in case you decline my offer. I am in dire need of assistance on this mission, and I have heard through the grapevine that you might be willing to offer your services for a price.

Like I have already stated, I am not at liberty to reveal the specifics regarding this mission at this point, nor can I reveal who connected me to you. I will not discuss in detail exactly what you would be paid should you agree to assist me. We will iron out the particulars at a later time.

I can say, however, that this mission has the potential to reap unimaginable rewards and anyone who plays a part in helping to accomplish it will be handsomely rewarded. I must stress that this mission is top secret, and should you reveal this letter to anyone else, the repercussions would be severe.

If you are interested in meeting with me about the mission, please board the vehicle I have sent.

Sincerely,

_Sai

* * *

  
_

"Well, what do you think, Jess?" James asked after he had given her and Meowth a moment to ponder. "Seems kind of suspicious, isn't it?"

Jessie paused, then looked around behind her at the pathetic situation they were currently in from a monetary standpoint and said, "I don't suppose we have much of a choice, do we?"

Meowth and James agreed.

"All right, then. Let's go!"

And with that, the trio climbed into the SUV, and the vehicle sped off back in the direction it had come.

* * *

_There it is! _

_Please REVIEW/COMMENT!_


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Welcome Home

_Here is Chapter 16 finally! If you remember, we left off with Ash losing in heartbreaking and suspicious fashion. He then decides to return home, where his mother and friends decide to throw him a surprise welcome home bash!_

Please read and leave some feedback/reviews when finished. It only takes a second and I REALLY appreciate it!

Without further ado, here is the latest chapter:

_

* * *

_

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN: WELCOME HOME**

_By Legacy_

_

* * *

_

The celebration had begun almost immediately after Ash and his friends had arrived at the Ketchum residence in the late afternoon. The sun was just beginning to set, bathing the entire town of Pallet in its beauty. The starving guest of honor had wasted no time in rushing through the house to the spacious back yard, where the elaborate spread of food and refreshments had already been laid out across several wooden picnic tables.

Beyond the Ketchum's backyard, in the large grassy fields just outside of the residence, a diverse group of pokémon were running around and playing with each other. Pikachu, Piplup, Glaceon, Golduck and the rest of Ash, Misty, May, Dawn, Brock and Max's pokémon were all frolicking about, as well as many others that presumably belonged to various people who were attending the party. They all seemed to be enjoying the freedom of the vast meadow very much on this gorgeously sunny evening.

Back at the house party, Ash had piled his plate high with rice, fish filets, potato salad, hot dogs and many other dishes. He was now seated at one of the picnic tables that had been set up and was admiring his mound of goodies. With his eyes wide with anticipation, Ash began ravenously stuffing his face, pausing only to greet and accept commendation from many of his neighbors and fellow Pallet Town residents who were all mingling happily throughout the Ketchums' yard.

"Hey Ashy Boy," a teen with spiky brown hair said as he slid into the empty seat next to Ash. "I came over to ask you how you're feeling after the surgery and all... but judging by the way you're inhaling that food, it looks like you're doing just fine!"

"Gary!" Ash shouted as he nearly choked on a mouthful of food. He swallowed and smiled, happy to see his childhood rival and friend. "I didn't know you were back in town! How are ya?"

"Oh you know, can't complain. Yeah, I'm back in Kanto now. I've been traveling around the region conducting some research on the migratory patterns of pidgy in the area."

"Cool! Sounds interesting," Ash said sincerely before shoveling another heaping spoonful of rice into his mouth.  
"Yup... Grandpa called and told me you were gonna be coming back home, so I decided to come see ya. I watched all your battles on T.V., Ash. That was quite the match between you and Lance."

Ash felt his emotional high that he had been on diminish slightly at the mention of his battle with Lance. He had nearly forgotten about the heartbreaking defeat he had just suffered not even two days ago. He had been so busy enjoying all the great food and company, that he really hadn't thought about just how painfully close had been to defeating a trainer whom many people regarded as 'the best in the world.'

"Yeah, I guess," he replied quietly.

"Oh, come on, Ash! You have nothing to be ashamed of," Gary said, trying to cheer up his childhood rival. "You battled like a champion. You nearly beat Lance. _Lance... the Dragon Master!_ He's probably the best trainer alive, and you almost beat him!"

"Yeah… I know," Ash said sadly at first, but was determined not to dwell on the loss. Sounding more cheerful, he grinned and added, "Thanks Gary."

But before Ash's friend could respond, a female voice suddenly chimed in from behind where Ash and Gary were sitting.

"Hi, Ash."

The two boys both turned around, and Ash nearly dropped his entire plate of food on the ground. The wide-eyed fifteen-year-old looked absolutely stunned to see who was standing before them.

"Lexi!" Ash nearly shouted. "Is that you? What are you doing here?"

A curvacious yet slender and very attractive brown-haired girl smiled at the boys. She was wearing a snug, pink tank top and very short white shorts which hugged the girl's figure seductively. Her brown hair was only slightly darker than Gary's, and it cascaded beautifully down past her shoulders.

"Hey, Ash," the girl replied sweetly as she took a seat next to the boy. "You're looking well."

"Who's this, Ash?" Gary asked with a polite smile, extending his arm across the table to shake the girl's hand. "I don't believe we've met."

"Oh... um... Gary, this is Lexi," Ash stammered finally, still looking extremely surprised to see the girl. "We met in Sapphire City last week. We uh..."

The boy couldn't help stumbling over his words. Ash was rattled by the sudden realization that Lexi Moss was the only one who knew all about his amazing gold coin as she had been there to witness it in action. A week ago at the Pokemon Center in Sapphire City, she had seen the Zak Seabrook's Hyper-Beam strike him dead before his mysterious "gift" had miraculously revived him, instantly healing his wounds. This made things a bit awkward. Ash wasn't really sure what to say to Lexi or Gary.

He couldn't exactly just tell his friend a lot about what had gone on in Sapphire City in regards to the coin and its apparent super-powers. Someone as analytical and science-oriented as Gary would never believe something so outlandish even if he told him. Ash also didn't feel it was right to share what Lexi had told him about her older sister being abducted, so not knowing what else to do, he just remained silent. The boy wasn't even exactly sure what Lexi was doing here. Ever since the night he had let her sleep in his room, Ash hadn't seen or heard from her at all. And now she was here at his own home?

"Oh... I get," Gary said with a snicker when he saw Ash's nervous reaction to Lexi's arrival. "Ash, you didn't tell me you brought home a girlfriend."

"What? Girlfriend?" Ash's eyes grew wide. As if the mere appearance from Lexi hadn't been weird enough, now he had Gary assuming the two of them were romantically involved.

"Oh don't play dumb with me, Ash," the younger Professor Oak replied with a grin. "I can tell what's going on just by the look on your face. It's okay, you don't have to say anything else. It's nice to meet you, Lexi... Welcome to Pallet Town. Ashy Boy here is a great guy... A little awkward around girls, but I'm sure he'll treat you right."

Lexi had a slight look of embarrassment and discomfort on her face as well at Gary's assumption that she and Ash were a couple, but she smiled politely, unsure of what else to do. She gave Ash a knowing look as if she understood why he wasn't telling Gary the unbelievable truth about their time in Sapphire City.

Awkward silence ensued. Ash was busy trying to process the many thoughts swirling around his brain at the moment. The fact that Lexi had shown up like this was baffling to him. What was she doing here? How did she know where he lived? Eventually, the boy just picked at the plate of food in front of him. Not knowing what else to say, Ash finally cleared his throat.

"I'm gonna get some more to eat," he mumbled as he stood up from the picnic table's wooden bench seat.

Ash forced a smile and excused himself from the table, leaving Gary and Lexi alone to make more small talk. He quickly headed towards the patio for second helpings, although there was still a pile of uneaten food on his plate. The fifteen-year-old meandered his way down the buffet line, with his mind (surprisingly) not at all on the delicious dishes that lined the tables. All Ash could think about was how strange it was to see Lexi here without any sort of warning or invitation. He was absentmindedly dishing up more rice and cold cuts when a jolly male voice boisterously greeted him from behind, startling Ash enough to snap him out of his trance.

"Ash Ketchum! It's great to see you, my boy!"

By this time, Ash was beginning to grow tired of all the people sneaking up on him today. He turned to see a tall, slender man with a bald, cue-ball-like head wearing a white lab coat beaming at him. He had never met or even seen this middle-aged man before, but Ash smiled back politely.

"It's… uh… good to see you, too," he said.

Realizing that Ash had no idea who he was, the man blushed slightly and chuckled.

"Oh, pardon me, Ash. You obviously don't remember me. I'm Professor Willow! The last time I saw you, you couldn't have been more than three or four years old. And now look at you!"

Ash still had a rather blank look on his face, but extended his arm to shake Professor Willow's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Professor. So... are you a friend of Professor Oak then?" Ash said, thinking that must be how this strange man knew him.

"Well, I have met Professor Oak on more than a few occasions, yes," Willow replied with another amused chuckle. "But actually, I am the resident pokémon professor of the town of New Hope... where you and your family used to live years ago before you moved to Pallet Town."

Ash finally understood. He had been a little too young to remember clearly, but his mom had told him that they had once lived in town called New Hope until Ash was just over two years old. This must be how this professor knew him, he deduced.

"I saw your incredible match with Lance the other day, young man!" Willow cheered enthusiastically and slapped Ash hard on the back. "You were amazing! You battle hard. You battle with a definite sense of passion and love for your pokémon Watching you battle all this week, it reminded me so much... of your father."

Ash's heart skipped a beat when he heard this.

"My… my father?" asked Ash, making sure he heard the man correctly.

"Yes, Ash. I mean, the bravery you showed to even think about battling after what happened with Seabrook! And then to almost defeat someone like Lance! My god, your dad would have been so proud of y-"

"Why hello there, Professor Willow. What a surprise to see you! It's been a while," Delia interrupted suddenly as she rushed over and barged into the conversation with an annoyed look on her face, although she tried to appear friendly. "I'm so glad you could join us today. How are things back at your laboratory? Have you eaten? Why don't you come with me and I'll fix you some tea?"

Willow, who was obviously unaware that Delia had deliberately tried to change the subject of conversation, began ranting about the new trainers who had just received their pokémon earlier that week and how he thought they would be lucky to end up to be as good as Ash. As the man babbled though, the boy's mother quickly led the man away from her son. Although his mother's behavior seemed very strange to Ash, he was still so shocked to hear someone mention his father, that he didn't think much of it.

Ash had not even thought about his father in years. In fact, he had barely even known him at all. He really had no desire to spend much time thinking or worrying about the guy now. He had only vague memories of the man. From the little his mother had told him – along with the knowledge that his father had left the two of them years ago when Ash was not even three years old – the fifteen-year-old really had no desire to know anything about him. Anyone who would just abandon his family like his father had wasn't work the time, Ash figured. And so for the next thirteen years, the boy had never really spoke or thought about the man at all.

But for some reason, the way Professor Willow's eyes lit up and the way his voice sounded when he told Ash that he was just like his father, it definitely sparked the teen's interest. Ash walked away from the food spread and back towards the table where Gary and Lexi were still sitting. He looked deep in thought with his eyes glazed over but intense.

Suddenly, Ash wasn't feeling as hungry anymore.

* * *

After a long walk back to the table where his friends were seated, Ash scolded himself for worrying about something that wasn't even worth worrying about. He decided to try hard to forget about Willow's mention of his father and focused on enjoying the great party his mother and friends had thrown for him. After all, he hadn't spent much time dwelling on his dad's absence ever since he was very young, so he concluded that it would be silly to start thinking about it now. Besides, Ash was enjoying seeing the many familiar faces from the past who had come to his party to express their congratulations and well-wishes.

Ash's old friend Drew greeted him with a handshake. He and May had met during their time traveling together through the Hoenn Region, had come to Pallet Town. The two talented coordinators were now seeing each other romantically; they had deciding to start dating a few months after the girl from Petalburg City and her little brother had bid Ash farewell after their travels a few years ago. Drew was in town only for the evening, and was planning on flying home to LaRousse City to see his family after the long journey he had May had just completed before she had left to see Ash. Despite that fact, the two boys were delighted to have the opportunity to catch up after all these years.

As the teenage trainer listened to May and Drew tell him all about their recent adventures together, he tried to ignore the fact that the two coordinators' close relationship during their travels reminded him very much of his own relationship with Dawn. But Ash scolded himself again. Why did he always let his mind wonder? From this point on, he vowed to just enjoy himself and forget about all the recent strange events in his life.

Throughout the rest of the evening, he had several more-than-pleasant exchanges with Professors Elm, Birch, Rowan and Ivy, Tonio and Alice who had traveled all the way from Alamos Town, Pokemon Ranger Jack Walker, Spencer Hale – Delia's childhood friend – and his daughter, Molly, Brock's entire family, and many other people whom Ash had met during his travels around the world. He was more than touched to see so many of his friends from the past take the time to come out to Pallet Town.

Ash's longtime friend, Tracey Sketchit, who had once traveled with Ash during his journey through the Orange Islands, had also finally emerged from Professor Oak's laboratory and joined the festivities as well. He greeted Ash with a handshake and expressed his compliments on his performance in the tournament.

For whatever reason, it was then that it occurred to Ash during these many heartfelt reunions just how many great friends he had made over the years. He looked around the yard at the large number of people who had traveled such long distances to be here tonight to show him their support and love, not to mention the many Pallet Town citizens whom he had known since he was very young. As he realized how lucky he was to have them all in his life, a sense of warmth and cheerfulness swept over his body and caused a big, bright smile to stretch across his face.

The sun was now setting over the big grassy hill adjacent to Professor Oak's lab. Ash glanced over to see his pokémon – many of whom lived here in Pallet Town - romping around playfully throughout the open field just beyond the boundaries of his backyard, with the glorious shades of orange, yellow and purple that wisped across the sky acting as a magnificent backdrop. The feeling of happiness he felt cradled him like a gentle hug from a loved one as he marveled at the picturesque beauty of the scene before him.

Brock and the three girls, Misty, May and Dawn, all walked up and stood alongside Ash as he continued to gaze out towards the sunset. They too noticed how pretty it was, but none of them appreciated it as much as he did.

"Whatcha thinking about, Ash?" Dawn asked, as she and the others had noticed his prolonged silence.

The boy didn't speak for a few moments, continuing to watch Pikachu and the others play. Then, without taking his eyes off of the pleasant scene before him, he said very simply:

"It's good to be home."

No one said a word in response. His friends simply stood behind him, just as they had done for a long time now as they had been loyally accompanying the boy on his travels since he was ten years old. They all just smiled, feeling happy for their friend, who was obviously very sentimental about returning to Pallet.

Meanwhile, no one seemed to notice the man in the clean-white lab coat, Professor Willow, lingering nearby. He had a thoughtful look on his face as he stood in the shadows near the Ketchums' house and watched Ash intently.

* * *

As dusk gave way to the darkness of nightfall, the guests began to bid their farewells to Ash and thanked Delia for her hospitality before they departed. The sun had retired for the night, but the stars and moon took its place, along with the dim flood light that hung above the Ketchum's house. Together, they provided enough light as the party began to wind down.

Professor Oak had helped Ash gather up all of his pokémon, who were all tuckered out from their full day of amusement, and took them to his lab for some rest. Only Pikachu remained at the Ketchum house, and was currently inside, presumably sleeping in his trainer's bedroom.

Ash was a little sad to see the party end, but sincerely thanked each and every one of his guests for coming as they departed for home. When nearly everyone had left and the backyard became almost deserted, Professor Willow found his way over to Ash and flashed him a grin. The teen had been busy clearing the tables in the backyard when the hairless scientist approached him.

"Great party, young man. It's been so wonderful to see you again," the professor said, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I still can't get over it... The last time I saw you, you were just a little tyke running around the house causing mischief."

Ash smiled uneasily. It felt a little funny to hear this stranger with the bald head, whom he had never remembered meeting, gushing about how much he had grown. Willow simply continued on, however, looking very nostalgic. He glanced over his shoulder and all around to make sure Delia was out of earshot before he focused his gray eyes back on the boy.

"What are you? Fifteen now? My word, you're a spitting image of your father, Ash," he said, looking into Ash's big brown eyes with amazement. "I know you don't remember a lot about your dad, but like I said before, I knew him very well. And I know what memories you do have of him probably aren't the fondest, but I just wanted to say that I hope someday, you'll be able to forgive him. He really did love you, Ash."

A troubled look overcame Ash's face when he heard this. _His father loved him?_

He instantly thought of about a hundred retorts to this statement that he could have said, but not wishing to start an argument, he decided to just nod and smile politely. Willow then reached into his coat pocket and took out a slightly crumpled photograph.

"I wanted you to have this," he said, handing Ash the photo.

The teen took it from the man and held the picture at an angle near his face so that the moonlight could illuminate it. In the photo, there was a relatively young, handsome black-haired man sitting on the front steps in front of a big white house. In his lap, was seated a very young little boy, who probably was about two years old, with a messy mop-top of matching black hair and big, innocent-looking chocolate-brown eyes. Both father and son were grinning from ear to ear in the picture.

Ash's eyes grew huge when he realized who the two people in the photo were: it was Ash, as a precocious two-year-old, sitting happily on his father's lap in front of their cozy-looking home in New Hope.

"Can I… keep this?" Ash asked the professor after he had been staring at it for a few seconds.

"Of course, my boy," he replied with a satisfied smile. "It's yours."

"Thanks," Ash said, although sounding distant and never taking his eyes off of the slightly crinkled photo.

By this time, Gary, Lexi and Max had started to way their way across the patio and were clearly coming to speak with Ash. Oddly, Professor Willow seemed to become a bit spooked by this. He quickly turned to the boy before the others got close enough to hear.

"I'll cut right to the chase, Ash," he muttered with a serious look. "You're dad didn't walk out on you and your mom. He did it to save you two."

"Wha-"

"Just let me finish," the professor hissed. "I can't get into it here, but I came here because the time has come for you to learn the truth about your father. Meet me at my laboratory as soon as you can get away. I assure you that what I have to show you will answer a lot of questions that I'm sure you have about the things that went on in Sapphire City..."

When Gary, Lexi and Max finally reached the two, Professor Willow just smiled politely and again addressed Ash in a more lighter tone. He shook the boy's hand and patted him on the shoulder.

"Well, Ash… again, it was great to see you. I hope you give some thought to what I said. I'm heading back to New Hope tonight, but if you want to talk more about what we discussed... you know where to find me."

"Thanks Professor," the boy replied quietly, still very puzzled by what the man had said just moments ago.

And with that, the professor shook Ash's hand and turned to leave the premises. He hopped on the bicycle that had been parked against the yard's fence and began to pedal away. A whole new batch of confused and previously repressed emotions were now flowing through Ash's head once again.

He folded the photograph carefully and stuck it in his pocket. He stared at the slender scientist as he and his bicycle disappeared into the night towards Route 21, the water route to Cinnabar Island. Ash heard the Willow's voice in his head, repeating what he had said about his father over and over:

_"Your dad didn't walk out on you and your mom. He did it to save you two."_

Was this guy crazy? What an outlandish claim to make... not to mention how suspicious it seemed to blurt it out just before leaving.

Ash was so young when he had last seen his father, he really had little to no recollection of the man who Willow said had supposedly loved him so much. Somehow though, he found the professor's claims hard to believe based on what he had known about his dad for much of his life, despite seeing how happy he looked as a young boy in that photo he had just received. Ash trusted his mother more than anyone in the world, and if she said that his father had abandoned the family, than he believed her.

But the look on the professor when he had been rushed into revealing his real reason for attending the party... the intensity of the look in Willow's eyes was hard for Ash to ignore. Plus, the bald-headed scientist had made reference to "the things that went on in Sapphire City." Could Willow somehow know about the coin? Did he know about the amazing powers that it appeared to possess?

Ash's heart was pounding. He was so busy trying to process what had just occurred that he nearly forgot that Gary, Max and their new friend, Lexi were standing right next to him.

"Hey, Ash," Gary's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Great party, but I'm callin' it a night. I'll catch ya in the morning."

"Sounds good, Gary," Ash replied, snapping out of his trance. "Thanks again for coming!"

"No problem, Ashy Boy," Gary said and slapped his friend on the back. "Wouldn't have missed it for the world… well, goodnight! It was nice meeting you, Lexi."

Lexi, Max and Ash all waved goodbye as Gary retreated towards his grandfather's laboratory for the night.

"Where did May and the others go?" Max said after Gary had disappeared from view, seeing that they were alone now out in the backyard.

"I think they must be inside," Ash said. "It's late, Max, you should probably go on inside and get ready for bed."

"Aww, man! But, I wanted to tell you guys the story about how I earned my first gym badge! And I'm not even tired!" the eleven-year-old argued.

But with almost perfect timing, Max couldn't help but allow a big, wide yawn to overcome his speech. The older teens laughed.

"Tomorrow, Max," Lexi said, ruffling the youngster's hair playfully. "I can't wait to hear about it."

The young boy sighed. "Fine. Well... It was nice meeting you Miss Lexi. How long are you goin to be in town?"

"Oh, I'm not sure," the girl replied. "I'll probably make my way home soon. It was so nice to meet you too, sweetie!"

Max blushed and nodded before headed inside the house to find his sister, leaving Ash and Lexi standing by themselves outside.

The Millennium Supernova had since ended, but the moon itself was still very capable of illuminating in the night sky. Down below, its soft white glow bathed Ash and Lexi in its pearly essence.

"What's the matter, Ash?" Lexi asked after a few awkward moments of silence.

Ash was still immersed in his thoughts, but responded to the girl when she spoke.

"Oh… nothing. I'm fine. Just glad to be back home, I guess," he said, but not very convincingly.

He turned his back on Lexi and walked over to one of the picnic tables sitting in the yard and sat on top of it. He half-hoped she would just take the hint, say her goodbyes, and leave him to his thoughts. But she didn't. Instead, the girl followed him to the table. She climbed up and sat down right next to him on the tabletop.

"Ash, I know you're probably wondering what I'm doing here," the brown-haired teen said as she placed a friendly hand on his arm. "I'm sure it's kind of a shock to see me out of the blue like this."

Ash didn't say anything. Honestly, the mind blowing claim by Professor Willow about his father had caused Ash to almost completely forget about Lexi showing up in Pallet Town. But now that she had mentioned it, Ash finally removed his gaze from the moon and turned his head to look over at the girl. Right away, he realized how angelic and alluring the girl looked in the peaceful glow of the moon. Her big brown eyes seemed to sparkle just like the many twinkling stars that overlooked the two teens from above.

"Look, Ash," Lexi said, speaking quietly. "I'm sorry I just sort of left without saying goodbye the night you saved me from Zak Seabrook. I saw what he did to you after your battle on T.V. It was just horrible."

"Thanks..."

"I followed the news after they took you to the hospital. It seemed like your condition kept getting worse and worse. Everyone thought you were gonna die... and well, after what you did to save me... I couldn't let that happen."

"What do ya mean?"

"Well, after you had been in the hospital for a while, I figured you didn't have that special coin on you... you know, the one you had that night outside the Pokemon Center. The one that healed you right away after that tentacruel got you with its Hyper-Beam. I figured if it revived you once, it could do it again. It must have special healing powers or something."

"So you were the one who brought it me in the hospital?"

"Mm-hmm," the girl said, nodding her head. "I'm sorry, I broke into your room at the Pokemon Center. But I figured you had left the coin in there somewhere. I knew if I simply asked the security guards to let me search your room for this magical healing coin, they might have sent me to the psychiatric ward, so we let ourselves in and found the coin in your dresser drawer."

"Wow," Ash replied, not knowing what to say. "How... how were you able to get past the night watchmen? Security around that place is pretty tough, especially at night."

Lexi smirked at Ash. She reached into the pocket of her white shorts and pulled out a tiny metal sphere. With the press of a button, the orb grew in her hand before she tossed it gently on the ground. With a flash of bright white light, a creature appeared next the foot of the picnic table.

"Jigglee!" a pink-bodied pokémon resembling an oversized marshmallow squealed.

"Hey, a jigglypuff!" Ash said, looking surprised.

"That's right," Lexi said. "Jiggly here was able to put each and every security officer in the stadium to sleep with her beautiful singing voice. After that, it was a piece of cake."

"Wow," Ash said once again. "Thanks, Lexi. You... you two saved my life."

"Oh, don't mention it, Ash. It's the least I could do after what you did for me. But listen, I'm glad to see that the coin did its magic once again and you're okay, but that's not the only reason I came to see you, I'm afraid."

"It's not?"

"No," the girl said, shaking her head a bit timidly. "I uh..."

"It's okay, Lexi," Ash coaxed her. "What is it? You can tell me."

The girl took a deep breath and continued on. Like floodgates opening, once Lexi got over her initial hesitation, she nervously rambled with considerable speed in her voice.

"It's just that... ever since you saved me that night outside the stadium, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, Ash. I mean, I had seen you on T.V. a bunch of times before, and I always thought you were cute... but to meet you in person and see just how truly amazing you are... I just had to come see you again!"

Lexi finally took a breath when she was finished with her long-winded response. Ash just stared back blankly at the beautiful girl whom he was sitting with alone underneath the moonlight.

"Uh... I'm not really sure what to say," the boy uttered. He was absolutely terrified to be in such a position. On one hand, he figured he should be excited that a beautiful girl like Lexi apparently saw something in him. But on the other hand, Ash had never in his life been good at handling himself smoothly in these sorts of situations

"You don't have to say anything," Lexi replied, looking happy that Ash hadn't rejected her outright by now. "I'm just glad to be here with you tonight."

Ash felt his heartbeat quicken in his chest and goose-bumps formed on his arms when Lexi scooted closer next to Ash on the picnic table and gently placed her hand on his arm. He began to nervously struggle to find the words to respond to her as he abruptly forced himself to look away and back up at the sky.

"Umm… uhh… thanks, Lexi," he finally stammered. "I'm glad you're here too."

Lexi smiled warmly up at Ash before adding, "Oh, and Ash... about that coin and the whole rising from the dead thing... I just want you to know that you're secret's safe with me."

* * *

_**MEANWHILE**_

_**

* * *

**_

Back inside the Ketchum house, Max was already in his pajamas and was sitting up in one of the five small cots that Delia had prepared for him and the rest of the gang in the living room. May, Misty and Brock were also in the living room, sitting on the couch watching the late-night television coverage of the tournament from Sapphire City.

"May?" the preteen asked during a commercial break. "Did Ash ever say anything to you about his father when we used to travel around Hoenn with him?"

A little surprised by her brother's question, she thought for a few moments and said, "No, Max. I don't think he ever did. Why do you ask?"

May had never really thought about it before, but come to think of it, she had always wondered about Ash's father. She had met Delia many times before, but realized that she had never even heard about Ash's dad. He had never mentioned anything about it during all the time they had spent together, and she hadn't felt that it was her place to ask him.

"Well, earlier I heard that Professor Willow guy talking to Ash about his dad during the party," Max explained. "It seemed like he knew him from the past or something."

"Hmm… I don't know, Max, but I don't think you should bother Ash about it," May replied, knowing how curious her brother could be. "He might not want to talk about it. If he did, he probably would have told us."

"Yeah, come to think've it, I don't think I've ever heard him mention anything about his father either," Brock chimed in thoughtfully.

"Me neither," Misty said, looking a bit disappointing that Ash had never confided in her regarding the issue.

"What are you guys talking about?" Dawn asked as she came strolling into the living room wearing her sleep attire, her shiny blue hair tied back in a ponytail. The pleasantness in her voice wavered mid-sentence when she saw Misty sitting on the couch.

"Just Ash's dad," Max nonchalantly replied. "We've all known Ash this long and we've never even heard anything about his dad."

A little taken aback, Dawn started to speak, but stopped. She looked uncertain about whether or not to tell the group what Ash had told her about his absent father a few months ago. But she couldn't resist the opportunity to boast about the fact that Ash had entrusted her with this information and not his 'precious' Misty. Dawn, usually a very sweet and kind-hearted girl, didn't exactly know why this girl made her act and think like this, but she couldn't help it.

"So, I'm guessing you guys are wondering what the story is with his dad, and why he's not around, right?" Dawn asked as she sat down on the couch next to her red-headed rival.

Everyone nodded except for Misty, who looked a bit upset. The flustered girl stood up from the couch without saying a word and sulkingly stomped off. However, she stopped at the large bay window located at the other end of the living room and stared outside, making sure she could still hear the conversation.

"Well, you see… Ash's dad, Jeffrey, was a really talented pokémon trainer from a town called New Hope. He traveled all around the world collecting gym badges just like Ash," Dawn explained. "And one day, during his journey through the Kanto region – Pallet Town to be exact – Jeffrey met a girl and fell in lov-"

"You mean Ms. Ketchum!" Max interrupted excitedly.

Dawn giggled at the boy's enthusiasm. "Yes Max, that's right. Anyways, Delia and Jeffrey fell in love right away when they met in Pallet Town. They ended up getting married a year or two later and moved back to Jeffrey's big, fancy house in New Hope to start a family. And that's where Ash was born."

"That's so romantic!" May squealed. Brock and Max nodded in agreement.

But Dawn's expression became very somber as she continued. "Well, it started off that way… according to what Ash says. But apparently, when he was like two or three years old, Ash's dad just up and left… he snuck out one night and never came back."

"What?"

"Yeah," Dawn said, understanding the shock in the others' voices. "Ash says his dad left a note just saying that he had to leave and that he was sorry. And that was that… it was the last Ash and Delia had ever heard from him."

"Why did he leave? Where did he go?" Max shouted but quickly recoiled when the others harshly shushed him because Delia was sleeping upstairs.

"No one knows, Max," Dawn said sadly. "Ash's mom tried for years to track him down, but there was absolutely no sign of him anywhere. After a while, she just gave up I guess. He didn't say anything about where he was going or why he was leaving. He just left… he abandoned Ash and his mother."

"That's horrible," Brock said sympathetically. "Gosh, I never knew."

"Yeah," Dawn agreed, looking a bit angry now that she was thinking about how Jeffrey had abandoned Ash. "And with no way to pay the bills or keep up with the payments on the house, Ash and Delia moved back to Pallet Town shortly after."

"Ash must be really sad about it," Max speculated thoughtfully. "If my dad left me, I'd be really upset."

"Well, Ash was a lot younger when his dad left than you are now, Max," Dawn explained. "He says he really can't remember much about his father… which he doesn't mind because he says he doesn't want to waste time worrying or being sad about someone who would just abandon him and his mom like that."

"So _that's_ why he's never really talked about him before?" May asked, feeling sorry for Ash and his fatherless childhood.

"Exactly," Dawn said with a nod. "Obviously, Ash doesn't think very highly of his dad. And who could blame him? And it's been so many years now that he doesn't really even think about him at all anymore, I guess."

"Until tonight!" Max said.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked the boy with a curious look on her face.

"Well, I overheard Professor Willow talking to Ash about his dad earlier," Max said, repeating what he had told the others. "He was talking about how proud Ash's dad would have been to see him in the tournament, I think."

"Really? I wonder-"

Misty interrupted Dawn, speaking for the first time since they'd begun discussing the topic of Ash's father. She was still staring out the window overlooking Ash's backyard.

"Maybe that's why he's still sitting outside and watching the stars," she said, pointing out the window towards Ash. "He only sits still like that for any length of time if he has something on his mind. Normally that boy has the attention span of a five-year-old."

"Huh?" Dawn replied and walked over to the window and peered outside as well. May, Max and Brock followed suit.

Sure enough, there he was, still perched on the picnic table top, silently gazing up at the moon and stars. And seated next to him was a slender, shadowy figure with long, flowing hair.

"Who's that next to him?" Dawn asked, noticing the girl seated alongside Ash.

"Oh, that's Lexi," Max explained knowingly. "She was at the party. She met Ash in Sapphire City, and was in town, she said, so she decided to stop by and see Ash… she's really nice!"

"Hmmm…It looks like Ash thinks she's really nice too," Brock said, observing how close the two teens were sitting next to one another on the table outside. He tried not to chuckle at the response he got from Dawn and Misty. Both girls shot him very cold looks.

* * *

_**MEANWHILE**_

_**

* * *

**_

"Where in the world are you taking us!" Jessie angrily shouted from the backseat at the driver of the black SUV.

The vehicle had been moving for hours now, and the driver had not uttered even one word to Jessie, James and Meowth. The man's silence combined with the fact that all of the windows (aside from the windshield of course) were tinted so dark that they couldn't see where they were going, had obviously unnerved the three passengers.

"Hey! The lady asked you a question, bub!" James barked when the driver continued to ignore them.

Again, the driver in the black suit said nothing. His head stayed pointed straight ahead. Meowth held up both of his front paws and extended the sharp claws on each in a threatening manner.

"Maybe cat's got dis guy's tongue! If he won't listen to reason, maybe my Fury Swipes can knock some sense into him!" the pokémon snarled, proposing to use force to get some answers from the driver.

But before Meowth could do anything, the SUV took an incredibly sharp turn off the road and picked up considerable speed. In addition, the smooth road they had been traveling on had abruptly given way to a much bumpier surface almost like they were driving over some sort of rock quarry or a series of huge speed bumps.

The sudden change of direction knocked Meowth from his feet and caused the pokémon to smash into the side of the vehicle with a painful thud. Jessie and James, neither of whom had been wearing their seat belts, were tossed to the side of the car as well. Both humans shrieked like they were riding some sort of roller coaster.

"Hey! What's the big idea!" James wailed, trying to brace himself against the door. "Where did you learn how to drive?"

"We're gonna die!" Jessie screamed shrilly. She was awkwardly positioned, half-sprawled out across the backseat, half-lying on the floor. "Please stop the ride! I wanna get off!"

For the next few excruciatingly frightening moments, the trapped passengers feared for their lives as the SUV sped along uncontrollably through the rugged terrain, until finally, the vehicle mercifully slowed and screeched to a halt.

"Are we… are we dead?" James whimpered, his eyes still squeezed tightly shut out of fear as he felt himself to make sure he was still in one piece.

"No. We made it… we've stopped!" Jessie exclaimed, sounding grateful to alive.

The driver opened his door and exited the vehicle, again without a word. Then, the driver's side backdoor opened from the outside. The man stuck his head in the door and beckoned Jessie, James and Meowth to exit the car as well.

They followed his direction and stepped out into the misty, cool air. It was nighttime, but from where they were standing in the middle of some dark forest, it seemed like the time of day wouldn't make any difference at all. The thick jungle of tree branches and other forestry overhead almost completely blocked the sky. Beyond where they stood, it seemed like the forest got even thicker and darker. Clearly the big, bulky SUV would not have been able to make it any deeper into pitch-black abyss.

Jessie shivered from the cold air and the spooky atmosphere of their new surroundings. She was still dressed in her fancy evening gown that she had been wearing at the fair, and it didn't exactly provide optimal warmth.

"What are we doing all the way out here?" James asked, hoping that the driver might finally explain where they were. "Where is this 'Sai' fellow?"

But the man in the black suit did not speak. He simply got back into the SUV, started the engine and sped off, leaving Jessie, James and Meowth stranded all alone in the forest with no shelter.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Jessie screamed and started to run after the vehicle, but it quickly disappeared from view. "Is this some sort of joke?"

The trio let their shoulders slump and gave a collective sigh. They were now cold, hungry, and still broke, not to mention they were now stranded in the middle of nowhere.

"We should've stayed at da fair!"

Suddenly, however, a bright white light appeared in front of the trio, probably only a few feet away. The flash of light made a loud 'whooshing' sound as it appeared. It was so intensely bright that it briefly illuminated much of the surrounding area. Materializing from that explosion of light, a silver-haired man and a bipedal pokémon both appeared alongside Jessie, James and Meowth.

Jessie was startled by their appearance and instinctively jumped behind James and cowered. The silver-haired man simply chuckled at the woman's reaction.

"Greetings," he said simply while sizing up the trio with his eyes. He didn't look too impressed by what he saw, but continued on anyways. "My name is Sai… and obviously, you've received my message about accompanying me on this mission."

James tried to look brave as he nodded, but couldn't keep himself from shuddering.

"So, I assume since the two of you are here," Sai said, "that you have accepted my offer then."

"You mean t'ree (three) of us," Meowth replied. "Don't forget about Me-owth!"

Sai's cool and composed demeanor was briefly rattled as he realized that this pokémon could speak.

"A talking Meowth, huh?" Sai finally said, trying to sound unimpressed.

"Meowth... dat's right!"

"Very well. I assume the _three _of you have agreed to assist me on this mission."

Finally, Jessie found the courage to speak. "We're here aren't we?"

"Yes, you certainly are…" Sai's voice trailed off as he was still trying to get a read on these three former agents. "Very well. Shall we get started?"

"What exactly is the mission?" James asked, looking puzzled. "What are we helping you do, exactly?"

"Yeah, and when do we get paid?" Meowth hissed.

"Ah, all fair questions," Sai replied with a smirk on his scarred face. "I'll explain everything once we get to the ocean."

"The ocean? We're no where near the ocean! How do you expect us to get there? That blasted driver you sent us drove away!"

Sai chuckled at the woman's ignorance. He pointed at the pokémon that was standing next to him.

"Kadabra here will take us," he said simply. "Now come on. All three of you, place a hand... or paw... on Kadabra's body."

Jessie, James and Meowth all obeyed and crowded around the psychic-type pokémon  
"Kadabra, use Teleport!" Sai commanded.

"Kah-dah-brah!"

Kadabra's entire body began to convulse as it used all of its energy to focus its mental power into its teleportation. The entire group then began to glow white and quickly vanished into thin air. The next thing Jessie, James and Meowth knew, they were all standing on a large, abandoned wooden pier overlooking a vast, dark body of water. The moonlight, the only available light for miles, reflected brightly off of the rippling waves. The unmistakable smell of salt and fish almost overwhelmed them when they appeared. The sound of the ocean's waves crashing against the pier roared and rumbled beneath their feet. The crisp sea breeze howled as it blew past, causing them all to shiver.

"This," Sai shouted over the sound of the waves and wind, "is where our mission takes place!"

"What do you mean?" Jessie demanded, looking skeptical. "What are we supposed to do out here... fish for magikarp?"

Finally, Sai explained to the trio about the myth that had been scribed on the ancient scroll he had found. He told them about the three crystal orbs buried throughout the planet's depths and how finding all three would be beneficial to them all. However, Sai left out the part about unworldly power being awarded to the person who ultimately united all three crystals. He simply told the trio that the orbs were worth an exorbitant amount of money, and if they agreed to help him locate the crystals, they would be paid handsomely.

"So you're saying that one of the crystals is down there somewhere," James asked after Sai had finished. He pointed down towards the water.

"Precisely," Sai replied and removed a backpack from his back. He took out two adult-sized scuba suits and three small breathing apparatuses. He threw them towards the trio.

James and Jessie put the suits on, if for no other reason than to add a layer of clothing to help keep them warm against the stiff ocean breeze.

Next, Sai removed two pokéballs from his pack and tossed them down onto the pier in front of him. Two pokémon quickly emerged and instinctively dived down into the water.

"Shaaaar-Peedoooh!"

"Maaaan-Tiiiine!"

"Sharpedo and Mantine will assist us on our search as well," Sai said, the sense of excitement growing in his voice.

The two water-pokemon roared and awaited commands. Sai had now dawned a black scuba suit as well and looked ready to dive in the water along with the pokémon He turned to Jessie, James and Meowth.

"Well, what d'ya say? Are you up for it?"

The trio didn't look all that eager to jump into the cold ocean water in some wild-goose chase after some mythical crystal balls.

"I don't know," Jessie said finally, the fear and apprehension in her voice was apparent.

"Yeah. I'm sure there are plenty of other worthy candidates for this job," James said.

"I'm not da biggest fan of wah-tah," Meowth said, sounding uninterested.

Sai kneeled down to return the backpack to his back. He took his eyes off of the trio and casually said, "Did I mention, I will pay you $10,000?"

Sai had barely finished his sentence when he heard three splashing noises. He looked up, but Jessie, James and Meowth were no longer standing on the pier. All three of them had jumped eagerly into the ocean.

He smirked as he dived in after them.


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Chaos in SapphireCity

Here is Chapter 17! Thanks everyone in advance for reading!

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: CHAOS IN SAPPHIRE CITY!**

By Legacy

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_Once again, please leave a review after reading! PLEASE :)

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_

"Dr. Namba, how are we doing?"

A spindly man with a bushy brown mustache wearing a white lab coat sat in front of his glowing computer screen. He was feverishly typing away at the keyboard as he responded to his boss's question. Dr. Namba replied without ever looking away from his work.

"I think I'm in, Boss! The Porygon-Beta computer virus Professor Moss created seems to be working."

The Boss felt a burst of adrenaline flowing through his veins. At last, the moment he had been planning towards for years was nearly here.

"Very good, Namba. It better work. It took that bitch the better part of a year to finish creating this virus.

"Well, she definitely knows her stuff," the crusty scientist commented as he continued to type away on the computer's keyboard. "This program is so complex and powerful... amazing! I've finally finished tapping into all world's the major telecommunication satellites. The Porygon-Beta virus is currently infecting their computerized security systems… if everything goes right, it should be able to successfully jam all outgoing digital and analog signals and give you total control of the airwaves."

"Excellent," the boss replied, sounding pleased as he stood behind his employee and looked over his shoulder at the computer screen. "So that means I'll be able to transmit my signal to all the world's televisions?"

"Yes, Sir," Dr. Namba replied gleefully. "Porygon-Beta gives you complete control of essentially the entire world's communication infrastructure. With one push of a button, we can control T.V., radio, internet in any way we want. It should be very easy to block all other programming and broadcast your message to everyone across the globe."

"Very good!" the boss exclaimed. "This virus is much more powerful than the one we infected Sapphire City's security system with. If this works, Namba... you're in for a handsome raise!"

"I'm not worried about money, Boss," the mustached man said as he stopped typing and turned to face his employer. "All I want is a spot on your team as you resurrect the 'Rocket' name and lead us to world prominence. Ever since my early days when I worked with the old regime, I've wanted to take the organization further than simple thievery and other petty crimes. I've always thought we were capable of much greater things."

"And right you are, Namba," the dark haired man in the suit replied. "We _are_ capable of much greater things... and it all starts right now! Very soon, the world will know just how powerful we have become! And don't you worry, Namba, you are already making immense contributions to our cause. And I assure you, it will not be forgotten."

"Yes, sir! Let us do Giovanni proud."

The boss nodded and placed an approving hand on Namba's shoulder. After a moment, he grunted in approval and turned to exit the laboratory, which was still littered with broken glass and other scattered pieces of metal. The suited man returned once again to his office and sat down behind his desk. His plan was moving along exactly as he had hoped. This pleased him to no end.

He flicked on the television and chuckled at the sight of the many thousands of screaming fans who were packed into Sapphire Stadium, knowing that at this time tomorrow, all his hard work would pay off. The entire world would soon know his name. They would soon witness the sheer power and terror of his Super Pokemon. And having no other choice, the entire world would soon bow and grovel at his feet.

"… _And that will do it for tonight's semifinal match! Lance, the defending champion, wins again! His Dragonite soundly defeats Wallace's Milotic, giving the Dragon Master the win and a spot in the finals! That means tomorrow's final championship match will feature Lance of Blackthorn City and the former Sinnoh League Champion, Cynthia… in what will undoubtedly be one of the most-watched sporting events in history! So be sure to tune in tomorrow… our coverage begins at 9 A.M."_

The boss's excitement was reaching extreme levels. He could barely sit still. He took out another cigar from his jacket pocket, but before lighting it, he leaned over and punched a few buttons on his intercom.

"_Yes, Boss?" _a voice answered after a few seconds.

"Agent Cortez… It's time. Move your men out and get into position. Tomorrow morning… we strike!"

* * *

The next morning, Ash and Pikachu awoke to the soft chirping sound of pidgey and spearow outside and the beautiful sunrise peeking in through his bedroom window. At first, opening his eyes and seeing the familiar blue and red-painted walls of his bedroom seemed a bit strange. Ash had spent so much time on the road over the years, that waking up in his own bed didn't feel normal. But once both pokémon and human had become fully coherent and began to stretch their limbs, Ash noticed the wonderful aroma of bacon and eggs frying in the kitchen.

With his stomach growling as usual, he dressed quickly and ran downstairs with Pikachu scampering behind him. When they arrived in the kitchen, they were both surprised to see Lexi, already dressed in her typical blue tank top and short white shorts, standing in front of the stove tending to the eggs, bacon, and hot cakes. Even though Ash knew that Lexi had spent the night in his living room with the rest of his friends, it was still a bit strange to see someone he had essentially just met cooking breakfast in the house he had grown up in. It became even stranger when he thought about the very unusual relationship he had with this girl.

Ash's mother was seated at the kitchen table along with Brock, Max and the three other girls.

"Good morning, sweetie! Good morning, Pikachu!" Delia said with a smile. "Lexi offered to cook breakfast for us! Isn't that sweet of her?"

"Uh… yeah," Ash said, sounding confused.

"Pi-Kah-Chu!" the mouse happily greeted Ash's mother and the others. He then scurried over to where Piplup and a few other of the gang's pokémon were crowded around a large bowl of food, which Brock had undoubtedly prepared.

"Morning, Ash!" Lexi turned and said cheerfully when she noticed that he had arrived. "How did you sleep?"

Ash didn't notice Misty and Dawn scowling between themselves at the table. Ever since they had noticed how close Lexi and Ash had been last night and how the two of them hadn't returned inside until well after midnight after spending hours together on that picnic table, they hadn't taken too kindly to Lexi. After all, they had never even seen this girl before, and now she was acting like she and Ash were the best of friends all of a sudden.

"I slept well, I guess," Ash answered. He sat down at the table next to his mother and cautiously poured himself some orange juice. He was now just noticing the nasty looks he had been getting from the two girls seated next to him.

"That's good," Lexi gushed happily as she walked back and forth between the stove and the table, dishing up and carrying plates two-at-a-time and setting one down in front of each person.

"How about you, Lexi?" Ash asked, talking with his mouth full of eggs and ignoring his mother, who was glaring at her son for his lack of manners.

"Oh, not bad. Thanks again, Ms. Ketchum for letting me stay the night. I really should think about heading back home soon, perhaps after breakfast. I don't want to be a – OUCH!" Lexi grabbed her hand after clearly burning it on the hot pan sitting on the stove.

"Lexi!" Ash shouted with concern. He immediately jumped out of his chair and ran to help her, nearly knocking Misty over in the process. He instinctively grabbed the girl's hand to inspect the burn. "Are you okay?"

Lexi looked shocked at Ash's reaction. Her bright green eyes sparkled like emeralds as she blushed slightly. Ash continued to hold her hand and guided her towards the sink. He ran some cold water from the faucet and held her hand underneath it to sooth the burn.

"How's that?" he asked after a few seconds.

"Uh… it feels a lot better now. Thanks, Ash." Lexi said sincerely. She still looked surprised at how quickly he had rushed to help her, but thankful nonetheless.

"Brock, do you have any of that aloe lotion stuff left?" Ash turned and saw his friends stunned reactions. "What? What are you guys looking at?"

Delia was grinning, apparently with pride over how gentlemanly her son had just acted. Brock, May and Max had looks of surprise on their faces, but eventually returned to their breakfast. Misty and Dawn however, looked beyond bewildered and not at all pleased. The group finished their breakfast and Delia shooed them into the living room, saying that she would handle the clean up since Lexi had been kind enough to cook.

Max plopped down on the couch and grabbed the remote control right away. He turned the T.V. on just in time for the start of the coverage of Lance and Cynthia's world championship battle. Everyone but Ash and Lexi seemed excited to watch the epic match between the two larger-than-life superstars.

"Aren't you gonna watch the match, Ash?" Max asked when he noticed that his mentor didn't seem too thrilled to see what was on the T.V. "It's the championship!"

"Nah, I don't think so," he replied, obviously still a little sore over being eliminated by Lance, who was now in the final. "But it's okay. You guys go ahead."

"Well, we don't have to watch it, Ash," Dawn said from her seat on the couch.

"What? You aren't gonna watch the final?" Gary said as he suddenly walked into the living room dressed in his familiar black polo.

"Oh, hey Gary," Ash greeted him then said a little sadly, "Nah, I don't think I want to see it."

"Well, if you're not gonna watch… what do you say, me and you have a battle then? Kinda like old times, ya know?" Gary suggested, tossing a pokéball up into the air, then catching it.

Ash's eyes lit up instantly, as did Max's.

"Well, all right! Let's do it! We can battle in the backyard," Ash said excitedly.

"Hey! Can I battle too, guys? I really wanna show you guys my pokémon!" Max asked hopefully as he jumped up from the couch.

"I thought you wanted to watch the final, Max," his sister reminded him.

"Well, I'm sure it'll be rerun," he replied, still excited over the prospect of battling with two of the finest trainers to ever come out of Pallet Town. "I'd rather battle!"

Gary and Ash looked at each other and chuckled at the boy's eagerness.

"Sure, kid," Gary said with a smile. "Why don't we have a tag battle? Me and Max against… Ash and his new little lady friend, Lexi?"

Lexi and the rest of the gang looked a little shocked at Gary's suggestion, but Ash was so excited to battle Gary after all these years that he didn't really care who he had as his tag partner.

"That sounds great!" he said, that familiar twinkle in his eye returning. "I mean… if you want to, Lexi. It's okay if you're a little rusty."

"Yeah, don't worry," Gary assured her. "I haven't had a serious battle in a long time. This is just for fun, anyways."

"Well… sure, I guess. Good thing I brought this with me," she said a little nervously as she took a single pokéball out of her shorts' pocket.

"Who's that pokémon?" Gary asked.

"Oh, you'll see," Lexi said with a slight grin.

"Okay! Okay! Enough yapping," Max said impatiently as he ran past the others towards the door. "Let's go out and battle!"

"I'll referee," Brock said, standing up from the couch as well. "I can always catch the highlights of the match later, anyway."

"Thanks, Brocko! Do you girls want to come and watch too?" Ash asked Misty, May and Dawn.

"No, thanks," Misty and Dawn both said rather coldly, apparently still a little upset about how eager Ash had been to spend time with Lexi lately. They didn't even look up from the T.V. It was the first time they had agreed on anything since the two had met.

"You guys go ahead," May said, a little more civilly. "We're gonna stay and watch the match."

"Oh… okay, then," Ash said simply and turned to follow the others out the door.

* * *

...

"All right! This will be an unofficial tag battle between the team of Gary and Max and the team of Ash and Lexi!" Brock said in a mock-referee tone of voice. "Each trainer will use one pokémon each. The first team to knock out both of their opponent's pokémon is the winner!"

"All right, time to see if we still got it, Blastoise!" Gary shouted as he threw his pokéball out onto the field. His big, bulky shelled-pokemon stretched its limbs when it appeared, looking excited to battle once again.

Max followed as he too tossed his pokéball "Okay, Kirlia! I choose you!"

A small, white-bodied creature with skinny green legs and hair appeared on the field next to Gary's Blastoise.

"Wow, Max!" Ash called out when he saw the boy's pokémon "Is that…?"

"It sure is, Ash!" Max replied before Ash could finish. "It's the Ralts we met on our way to Sootopolis City years ago! I went back for it the day I turned ten... just like I promised!"

"Hah! That's awesome, Max!"

Ash felt happy for his young friend, and was impressed by him as well, but he redirected his attention to the battle.

"After you, Lexi," Ash smiled politely at his partner. "Ladies first."

"Haha, thanks Ash," she said before throwing her ball out towards midfield. "Come on out, Jigglypuff!'

The marshmallow-shaped creature with its round, pink body appeared with a flash of white light. The pokémon certainly didn't look like much of a battler. It looked more like a stuffed animal than a fighter.

"Jigglypuff?" Max and Gary said in unison, both looking a bit surprised.

Ash, who had already known the pokémon Lexi would choose, followed suit and announced his first battler as he adjusted the navy blue baseball cap on his head.

"All right, I guess it's my turn... Pikachu! I choose you!"

"Pikah!" Ash's 'starter' pokémon also scurried onto the field, feeling much less pressure than during its previous battle, but looking determined nonetheless.

"Okay, let the battle begin!" Brock shouted.

Ash started the action off by ordering Pikachu to strike Blastoise with a Thunderbolt.

In his mind, he prepared himself for the fact that he might have to really make up for Lexi's lack of experience, since he didn't know if she was even a trainer or not.

"Piii… Kaaaaah… CHUUUUU!" The tiny Electric-type expelled an enormously powerful jolt of lightning from its body, which struck Blastoise head on like a crack of a whip.

Gary's Water-type nearly dropped to its knees, but managed to endure the pain of Pikachu's attack. Ash didn't have a chance to pat himself on the back for his successful attack though, as Max quickly commanded his pokémon to counterattack before Ash or Pikachu could react.

"Kirlia! Use Confusion on Pikachu!" Max shouted.

With surprising speed, Kirlia bolted back and forth across the field, avoiding several of Pikachu's defensive Thunderbolt attacks and unleashed a powerful telekinetic wave of psychic energy which halted the speedy rodent in its tracks. Instantly, Pikachu's eyes became glazed over and it began to stagger around the field in a very disorientated manner.

"Pikachu! Snap out of it!" Ash pleaded, but Pikachu was too dazed to listen.

"Blastoise! Let's take Pikachu out of this! Use Hydro Pump!" Gary called out, seeing his opportunity to swing the match in his team's favor.

Blastoise gritted its teeth and shot two mighty jets of blue water from the twin cannons on its shoulders.

"Don't worry, Ash," Lexi shouted and quickly sprang into action. "Quick, Jigglypuff! Protect Pikachu!"

With impressive agility, Jigglypuff became nothing but a pink blur as it shot in front of Pikachu and bore the brunt of the high-speed rushing water with its bowling ball-like defensive curl. The attack didn't appear to even phase Lexi's pokémon, aside from getting wet obviously.

"Now, use Hyper Voice!" Lexi shouted.

Immediately after Gary's Hydro Pump ceased, Jigglypuff shot like a pink comet towards Blastoise and Kirlia. As it soared through the air, the pokémon took a deep breath and then unleashed an explosive eardrum-shattering shriek so loud and shrill-toned that everyone – even the trainers – had to stop and cover their ears.

By the time Gary and Max's pokémon had composed themselves, Pikachu had recovered from its confusion and shot like a bullet past his beach ball-sized teammate and towards their opponents. As Ash's pokémon scurried, he picked up incredible speed and began to glow bright yellow.

"Volt Tackle, Pikachu! Now!"

"Pika-Pika-Pika-Pika-Pika-Pika-Piiiikaaaaaah!" Pikachu cried as it bashed Kirlia with a electrically-charged head butt.

Max's pokémon fell backwards from the force and landed on the ground hard before slowly propelling itself back up.

"Okay, Max," Gary suggested as he and the younger trainer briefly huddled. "Let's both try to attack Jigglypuff at once. Once we get it out of the way, we should be able to double-team Pikachu."

"Right!"

"Blastoise! Skull Bash!"

"Kirlia, use Psychic!"

Simultaneously, Gary's Blastoise lunged towards the bulbous normal-type and Kirlia conjured up another telekinetic wave of power, which it fired towards Lexi's pokémon Both attacks looked to be on target, but Lexi remained strangely calm.

"Jigglypuff! Take a deep breath! Catch Blastoise!"

Max was amazed when he saw Lexi's Jigglypuff take a tremendously deep breath, expanding its body mass by almost double. Like an inflated balloon, Blastoise's massive skull bash attempt was harmlessly absorbed by Jigglypuff's soft, pillowy, and now air-cushioned body. Blastoise had been stopped in its tracks.

And in one swift motion, Jigglypuff grabbed onto Blastoise's shell with its stumpy arms and used it as a shield to block Kirlia's Psychic attack. Blastoise was struck by the Max's attack instead, and Jigglypuff then dropped the motionless pokémon to the ground.

"Blastoise is unable to battle!" Brock shouted.

"Oh man, Blastoise!" Gary cried out. "You okay?"

"Holy cow, Lexi!" Ash looked over at her with amazement as Gary returned his pokémon to its ball. "That was awesome! So much for being rusty!"

Lexi blushed and said with a sweet smile, "Oh, it was nothing. I got lucky."

Ash gave the girl another rather suspicious look, but quickly regained focus.

"All right, Pikachu! Let's show Kirlia our Quick Attack! Be careful to dodge –"

"ASH! ASH, COME QUICK!" The battle was interrupted by Dawn, Misty, and May's collective blood-curdling screams from inside the house.

"Huh?" Ash and the others stopped the battle and looked over towards the house.

All three girls along with Delia were rushing towards them with looks panic and terror all over their faces.

"ASH! COME IN HERE! YOU NEED TO SEE THIS! Misty screamed, sounding absolutely hysterical and horrified.

"What is it? I already said I didn't want to watch the match. I don't care who wins," he said.

"NO! It's not that! It's horrible! HORRIBLE!" Dawn grabbed Ash by the arm and yanked him towards the house. She was in tears, and the looks on all the girls' faces told him that this was serious, so he followed.

Everyone ran back into the house and Dawn led Ash to the living room. Her arm shook uncontrollably as she pointed at the television.

Gary, Brock, Max and Lexi's eyes all grew wide with horror. Ash stood motionless at the television, unable to even believe what he was seeing.

"Oh... My.. God," was all he could whisper as he tried to gasp for his lost breath.

* * *

The morning of the Pokemon World Champions League Final had been picture-perfect. The majestic, cloudless sky above the stadium was a dazzling shade of bright blue that mixed magnificently near the horizon with the golden sun as it rose.

Inside the spectacular coliseum, Sapphire Stadium, the excitement and hysteria had been electric. The capacity crowd of over a hundred thousand fans that were packed into the arena, not to mention the millions and millions of people who were watching on television, had all been anticipating a battle for the ages between two of the most famous and talented superstars in the sport.

There had been pandemonium inside the building as the crowd erupted in applause when Lance and Cynthia took the field and delighted the fans by putting on a breath-taking and dramatic battle, proving that both truly deserved to be in the championship.

But all that changed about half-way through the match when a suspicious group of dozens of men all dressed in black uniforms interrupted the match by storming the field from every entrance, looking very solemn and deliberate as they all marched in like they were part of some sort of strange parade.

Lance, Cynthia and their Pokemon all stopped and stared, obviously confused as to what this cavalcade of uniformed soldiers was doing on the field while their battle had been taking place. Almost instantly however, everyone in the arena, as well as everyone viewing the strange occurrence on T.V., soon realized the horrible truth. All the celebratory cheerfulness and excitement that had previously been bubbling throughout the stadium, which had quickly given way to stunned silence and confusion when the strange men appeared… now turned to a sense of sheer panic and terror when they began to make their intentions known.

More and more men in black appeared on the field from the entrance tunnels wielding automatic weapons and leading a large number of various fierce-looking pokemon alongside them.

Before anyone realized what had been going on, the soldiers all began wildly firing their machine guns in every direction up into the crowd, inciting sheer chaos throughout the entire stadium. The numerous brutish pokémon that had accompanied the soldiers did the same, firing various powerful attacks from the field into the stands like it was a shooting gallery.

Horrified screams and hysterical wailing filled the air along with the deafening sounds of explosions and gunfire. The entire ground shook like an earthquake from the power of those blasts in addition to the stampede of thousands of terrorized fans who had begun to run for their lives towards the exits.

Many unlucky souls never made it out. Rubble, debris and dust from the stadium flew through the air like a hailstorm as bullets and beams of energy peppered the stands, killing anyone unfortunate enough to be in their path. More and more black-clad killers bombarded the stadium, and more and more destruction ensued as the seconds ticked by.

Then finally, the largest and most ferocious creature yet appeared on the already-ravaged field, as a half-dozen heavily-armored men led it out of the north tunnel and into view. It was muzzled by a huge metal contraption fastened like a helmet over his head and leashed with heavy metal chains as it stomped. It created massive craters in the ground with every step. Its long, muscular tail whipped through the air like a tree limb. The men who were clutching the chains looked less than comfortable with how close they were to the monster.

The enormous bipedal creature looked like a pseudo-robot with how much strange metal armor it words. Most notably, the creature had a brightly glowing orb fixed to its chest. The ball of blinding light, which looked to be the monster's heart, blazed an vibrant red color like a flashing police car siren. Its matching fiery red eyes were darting murderously in every direction as if it was having a hard time deciding what it should destroy first. The metal-masked beast nearly broke free from the huge chains around its slender neck as it looked eager to kill once it set foot on the field and sniffed the scent of blood and carnage in the air.

It's screeching, resounding roar dwarfed any of the previous loud noises from the commotion. All eyes seemed to fall on the creature when it entered the stadium and plodded towards midfield. The mayhem seemed to pause briefly as a sort of stunned silence then overtook the entire venue. No one aside from the evil attackers had ever seen any pokémon like this before.

At about this time, a gallant brigade of over two dozen blue-uniformed police officers, led by Officer Jenny, charged the field along with a pack of Growlithe in hopes of stymieing the attackers. They surrounded the bloodthirsty pokémon, and the pack of furry orange and black-striped fire-types all barraged it with cooperative Flamethrower attacks.

But the towering beast just glared unrelentingly down at its pitiful opponents, completely unscathed by the attacks. The jewel in its chest began to glow even brighter, like a huge, smoldering red-hot coal. Then without anymore warning, it opened its powerful jaws full of dagger-like teeth, unleashed a deafening roar, and blasted a mammoth beam of energy down towards the feeble humans and their inferior pokémon

And as if the officers and Growlithe had been nothing but dust in the wind, the mighty red ray of immense power completely annihilated them from existence. Their bodies had completely disintegrated to dust. Only a charred crater of broken concrete remained where they had stood.

Lance and Cynthia, who were still on the field, looked more than alarmed at the sight of death, but also attempted to thwart the soldiers nonetheless. The blonde haired beauty from Sinnoh commanded her Garchomp to blast the murderous pokémon with its strongest Giga Impact attack. Lance's Dragonite jumped in as well, firing a powerful Hyper Beam in the same direction.

Once again, however, the mighty beast was hardly affected by the twin-attacks. It whipped its massive head around to stare at both trainers' pokémon with those evil red eyes peeking through the metal mask. And with another deadly flash of red, Dragonite and Garchomp met the same fate as the police.

Both trainers bawled with anguish at the sight of their beloved pokémon being destroyed, but didn't have long to agonize. Almost immediately after, both Lance and Cynthia collapsed to ground when one of the soldiers' Manectric paralyzed them with a jolt of non-lethal electricity. A small group of soldiers then tied up the two unconscious bodies and dragged them away through one of the tunnels.

With the cavalry of police out of the way and the two celebrity trainers captured, the terrorists were free to resume their carnage. The Killer Pokemon now set its sights on the still large number of panicked fans desperately trying to flee down the aisles of seats towards the exits. Like a cannon, the creature began to fire more deadly red beams of energy, this time out towards the stands. Each devastating shot exploded on impact, causing even more destruction of the once-beautiful stadium.

Huge sections of the stadium's stands and outer walls soon began to collapse and crumble to the ground like a flooded sand castle. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of lifeless and bloody human bodies littered the area along with the concrete and metal rubble. Raging red fire and thick black smoke clouded the scene, and only added to the confusion and chaos.

As the massacre carried on, the rest of the world could only watch in horror as every terrifying moment had been captured on camera and broadcasted live to many millions of people across the planet. The screen shot violently shook from the impacts of explosions, and the broadcasters who had been calling the play-by-play for the match had apparently fled for their lives along with the spectators because their voices were now absent; only the resounding blasts and sounds of destruction could be heard over the telecast.

* * *

...

Back in Pallet Town, everyone in Ash's living room stood (and sat) frozen in stunned silence as they had watched the entire horrific event unfold on the television screen. No one could utter even a word, they were so shocked at what they were witnessing. The inconceivable cataclysm in Sapphire City looked like something out of a big-budget action film.

But unfortunately, Ash thought to himself as he watched the T.V. with his mouth hanging wide open, this wasn't just special effects or computerized graphics from a movie. The destruction, the despair, and the deaths they were witnessing… it was all too real.

The magnitude of what the group was watching had clearly hit them all, even young Max. Each of them knew that such a disastrous event would go down in history and would probably affect the entire world. Plus, if the creature they were watching was powerful enough to simply eradicate two of the most powerful pokémon in the world with as little effort as it had done so, Ash and his friends all knew that this was a very grave situation indeed.

"What is that thing!" Max's trembling voice finally broke the silence as he pointed at the T.V. from his spot on the couch, obviously referring to the killer pokémon

"Piii-Kaaah!" Pikachu cried out in horrified amazement from its position on its trainer's shoulder.

"I-I've never seen anything like that before!" Brock stammered, looking uncharacteristically frightened. "Is that a pokémon?"

"Wh-where do you think they took Lance and Cynthia!" Misty asked while Dawn, May and Delia stood behind her looking petrified with fear.

Gary's knees wobbled, and he staggered over to the couch to sit down next to Max, never taking his eyes off of the television screen. Lexi shuddered at what she was watching. She inched closer to Ash and grabbed his arm for comfort.

Suddenly, a loud knock at the front door startled everyone in the room. Delia rushed over to answer it, peering out the window before she did so, as if seeing the horrible images on T.V. had instilled in her a sense of uneasiness, even in her own home. Professor Oak and Tracy came walking into the living room, looking cheerful… then confused when they saw everyone's somber and anguished expressions.

"What seems to be the matter?" Professor Oak asked, looking at everyone in the room with inquiring eyes.

Tracey added, "Yeah… Are we too late for breakfa-"

But both stopped immediately when they glanced over at the television as well and saw what the rest of the group had been watching.

"Oh… my god!" was all Oak could say, his eyes growing wide and his jaw dropping.

Almost immediately after seeing the horrific event on T.V., Tracy abruptly rushed to the front door with a sickened look on his face.

"I… uh… I h-have to go make a phone call," he mumbled as he rushed out of the house, looking so upset that he almost tripped over his own feet in the process.

"What's up with him?" Ash asked. He fully understood how upsetting the scene from Sapphire City was, but something about Tracy's reaction seemed especially odd.

"Tracy's been acting very strangely for the past couple of months," Oak commented. "He's always excusing himself to go make phone calls. He's always asking for extended periods of time off from work. I don't know where he goes or who he is always calling on the phone… the boy just hasn't been himself lately."

"Yes," Delia agreed with a slight nod. "I have been noticing that Tracy's been gone an awful lot recently. I saw him sneaking out of the lab one night last week at around midnight. I assumed he was just going out for some air. I wouldn't worry though…Tracy's a very nice young man, and I'm sure seeing something like this just upset him, just like it's upsetting for all of us."

The group seemed to nod in agreement, although they didn't have time to dwell on Tracy's odd behavior for long.

Suddenly, a loud sound of static on the television caught everyone's attention. A moment later, a sinister voice cackled mischievously and began to speak over the images of the gruesome attack which was raging on.

"_Greetings to all who are watching," _the mysterious and raspy male voice taunted, although the owner of the voice did not show his face. "_I do sincerely apologize for crashing the big party, but as you can see… my deliciously evil new pet has grown tired of being cooped up in its cage and wanted to come out and play!"_

The voice paused for effect as the camera showed the beast unleashing another mighty blast into the side of the stadium's outer bowl.

"_Ah, but how rude of me. We have yet to properly introduce ourselves. I trust many of you remember back to the days when an organization named Team Rocket toiled about the country. And I trust you also remember that five years ago, Team Rocket failed and disbanded when many of its top agents were arrested or killed… including it's president and CEO._

"_Well, today's glorious events in Sapphire City mark the triumphant return of the new and improved Team Rocket name! From this day forth, the entire world will finally bow down to our power! From this day forth… the new Team Rocket rules the world!_

"_No longer will we trouble ourselves with petty crime and thievery… No. The new Team Rocket has much higher aspirations… namely the complete control and ownership of the entire planet and all of its resources!_

_"You have already witnessed how unstoppable my forces are, especially my delightful pokémon Its name is 'M3', and as you all saw… it made quick work of the police as well as the powerful pokémon of the top two trainers in the entire world. Just an example of the fate that those who fail to bow down to us will meet!_

"_Now, I'm sure there are many of you out there who still doubt the extent of our power. To those doubters, I invite you to simply change the channel on your televisions… Go ahead. Just change the channel. Those who think this is __some sort of joke, might as well see what else is on T.V."_

Ash sensed something fishy in the man's voice. Telling people to change the station seemed like an odd thing to say at this point, but Ash decided to listen to him. He walked over the his T.V. and tried to flip the channel.

But much to his surprise, the next channel on the dial showed the same thing: the frightening scene from Sapphire Stadium. Ash flipped to the next station, then the next, then the next. Team Rocket had somehow managed to be broadcasting their evil attack on each and every station on the television.

The voice from the T.V. cackled again, "_As you can see… not only does Team Rocket now boast the most powerful pokémon the world has ever seen, but we have also taken control over the entire world's electronic infrastructure… Including television, radio, internet, security systems, traffic control, airports, seaports, EVERYTHING!"_

The screen switched to a grainy camera shot of a dingy, dimly-lit jail cell of some sort. Two shadowy figures were lying in a heap, apparently unconscious, behind the bars of one of cell.

"That's Lance and Cynthia!" Gary cried out, as he was the first to recognize the Dragon-Master's familiar red spiked hair.

Everyone else gasped. The two superstar trainers who had been kidnapped from the stadium only minutes ago, were now seen on T.V., still alive but obviously beaten and bruised by their captors.

The voice continued, "_Now, I'm sure most of you at home watching had tuned in to see these two talented trainers… so I do not want to disappoint. Here they are… the greatest two trainers on the planet… easily defeated and captured by Team Rocket._

"_But in all seriousness, I feel terrible that our little intrusion interrupted what I'm sure would have been a classic and entertaining contest. So to show that I'm a sporting man, and that I too appreciate the thrill of competition… I am going to give Mr. Lance and Ms. Cynthia a chance to redeem themselves…_

_"Tomorrow night, I will allow both trainers to team up and use how ever many pokémon they wish to battle against none other than… MYSELF! And of course, my magnificent new pet, M3!"_

The T.V. screen showed more brief static then switched to an overhead shot of a brightly-lit outdoor pokémon battle field. The lines were all marked in bright red, and there was a huge matching 'TR' logo painted at center field. But there were no seats for spectators anywhere around the field. The entire perimeter of the rectangular surface was surrounding by huge, towering pine trees and other forestry, as if the field had been constructed right smack dab in the middle of some vast forest somewhere.

Ash quickly realized that this strange field would be the venue for Lance and Cynthia's 'battle' against the leader of the new Team Rocket.

"… _It will give me a chance to officially introduce myself to the entire world, and will give you the chance to see definitively that there is no one on this planet… or any other for that manner… that can defeat M3! Not even the greatest trainers in the world! It will prove once and for all, that resisting __the new Team Rocket's reign would be futile and foolish! It will be my coronation as the world's new supreme ruler!_

"_So tomorrow night! Tune in! Primetime! Watch as Lance and Cynthia fight for their lives!" _the voice laughed maniacally, then continued on. "_With that, my friends… I leave you until tomorrow… But before I sign off, I offer this warning: My men will be traveling to all the major cities in the coming days in order to assume command and relieve the former city officials of their duties._

"_I suggest you follow their orders, respect their authority, and do not attempt to resist their wishes in any way, for the consequences will be dire! Remember, those who cooperate with Team Rocket and follow us as we change the world for the better will not feel the sting of our wrath… only those who try to disobey our reign will be punished._

_"Now… with that being said, I bid you all a good day!"_

And with that, the video feed shut off, showing nothing but static on Ash's television.

May, who had a more-than-troubled look on her face, rushed over to the couch, sat down, and put her arms protectively around her younger brother after viewing such a frightening sight. Everyone else stood around the living room silently, all trying to process the mysterious voice's decree that the world as they had known it was now about to change… Team Rocket was back? The almost laughable, more-annoying-than-fearsome, bumbling crime ring from the past, who had been shut down by police years ago... they were now the new rulers of the world? Ash and the others didn't know exactly how this could have happened.

Curiosity, bewilderment, and overwhelming fear dizzily swirled through everyone's mind with the idea that the freedom, the peace, and the harmony they and the world had been enjoying was about to end at the hands of the evil organization with the faceless leader who wished to forcefully govern the entire planet.

Finally, Ash broke the silence by pounding his fist on the top of the coffee table in front of the couch, almost causing Pikachu to fall off his shoulder. He spoke up angrily.

"I can't believe Team Rocket's back! They're going to kill Lance and Cynthia! We've got to do something!"

Everyone looked over at the boy with endearment at his determination and heart, but no one seemed very optimistic that anything could be done to save the two imprisoned trainers.

"Ash," Dawn replied weakly. "It's horrible that they're going to kill them… on live T.V. no less… but what exactly do you think we can do?"

"She's right," Misty replied dejectedly. She sounded a bit bothered to be agreeing with Dawn, but continued. "We just watched that big, nasty 'M3' thing of theirs k-kill Dragonite and Garchomp like it was nothing. They're like the strongest pokémon ever, and that… that thing just destroyed them both with one hit!"

Ash looked even angrier that all of his friends seemed to be so discouraged. He knew the situation was grim at best, but he couldn't just sit idly by as the livelihood and freedom of millions was at risk.

"Look, I know Team Rocket's forces look strong," he said firmly. "And I know it sounds crazy, but I can't just stay here at home while Lance and Cynthia are there, waiting to die!"

"But Ash!" May pleaded. "We don't even know where 'there' is. We don't know where Lance and Cynthia are being held or anything. Where would you even start?"

"I'm afraid May is right, my boy," Professor Oak said regrettably. "I'm not sure there is much we can or anyone can do at this point. I've never in my life seen any earthly pokémon with that sort of power. Our only hope is that the military and police forces can somehow stop this tyranny."

"Yes. I know you want to help, Honey," Delia said, walking over to place a comforting hand on her son's arm, although her trembling gave away the fact that she was as scared as anyone. "But the police will handle this. That's what they're there for."

"But, Mom! We just saw that thing destroy the police in Sapphire-"

"That's enough, Ash!" Delia barked at her son. "You're not going to go out searching for trouble! None of you. I'm responsible for everyone's safety while you're all here. Now, the only thing we can do is just sit tight and hope for the best."

"Agreed," Professor Oak said with a nod. "Now, I suggest we all head over to the lab. In light of today's events, I think it's best if we all stay at a more secure and safe location. I don't anticipate any of Team Rocket's henchmen having any interest in our quaint little town, but better to be safe than sorry."

Ash was about to argue, but relented when he saw the forbidding expression his mother was giving him. All he could do was walk bitterly along with the others as they headed over to Professor Oak's lab to spend the rest of this dark day.

* * *

Deep beneath the surface of the freezing cold ocean water, four dark silhouettes made their way down towards the sea's floor. The visibility was low due to the complete lack of light down at these depths. Only the four small spotlights that were attached to the four scuba-divers allowed them to calculate their position.

Swimming alongside the divers were two water-type pokémon Sharpedo, a sleek torpedo-like swimmer which shot through the water with powerful whips of its tail. And Mantine, a bulky, kite-shaped pokémon, which was flapping the muscular flippers on each side of its body like wings. Both sea monsters looked far more graceful and skilled at swimming than the divers.

They had been in the water for hours now, but the lead diver kicked his legs and flippered-feet feverishly, obviously energized by his excitement to locate the object they were all searching for. His three weary associates (two of them human) followed closely behind, also paddling hard, not so much out of similar enthusiasm but in desperation to keep up with their leader and not get lost.

As they continued to descend deeper and deeper, the divers felt the crushing power of the water pressure squeezing hard against their chests, trying to suffocate them as they swam. The smallest of the divers grabbed its throat as its pint-sized lungs tries desperately to process enough oxygen necessary to breathe. Exhausted and short of breath, the pokemon-sized diver grabbed onto Sharpedo's fin and hitched a ride rather than continuing to paddle.

The leader urged the others to press on despite the dangerous depths. He pointed down towards the ocean floor and signaled inaudibly to them that they had nearly reached their target.

The forerunner stopped, much to his followers' relief, and removed three pickaxes and a high-tech-looking drill out of his backpack. He handed a pickaxe to each of his constituents as they remained floating just a few feet above a huge rock formation. He pointed at the massive boulder and made a motion with his arms as if to instruct the group to start swinging their axes at it, as if the object they were in pursuit of was buried inside the rock.

As a team, the four divers started to fracture the bedrock with their tools while the two water-types assisted as well, taking turns unleashing vicious head butts on the stone.

After a few moments, the hard rock formation began to fissure and crack. The group intensified their efforts after seeing this, as if the fruits of their labor was nearly within their grasp. Sharpedo and Mantine both swam back about twenty yards so that they could both pick up speed for their next head butt.

* * *

"_**WHOOSH!"**_

* * *

Suddenly a loud crashing sound swept over the area, and an enormous underwater tornado swallowed up both Sharpedo and Mantine and sent them sputtered backward before they could crash into the rock again.

All four divers whipped their heads around to see what had happened. They stared in horror as they saw two gigantic pokémon speeding towards them, looking ferocious and ready to battle.

One was a graceful yet ferocious-looking dragon-like pokémon whose body was such a bright, shimmering white-silver color that it was almost glowing in this dark area of the ocean. It's impressively massive wingspan and the speed with which it came hurdling towards the divers made it look more like a white fighter jet than a swimmer.

The other creature was an enormously bulky dark blue whale-like monster with two small fins located on its back. There were vibrant red-colored narrow stripes all along its body and flippers. Its tiny yet glaring eyes were intensely fixated on the divers as it rocketed towards them. Both pokémon looked immensely powerful, and neither looked happy to see the divers.

Sharpedo and Mantine had recovered from the whirlpool attack, and the lead diver gestured for them to attack while his three assistants cowered from behind him. Mantine fired a Water Pulse attack towards its two opponents, but both easily dodged the attack with graceful and agile bits of undersea acrobatics.

Sharpedo followed suit, shooting like a missile in the direction of the two mysterious pokémon in order to attempt a Crunch attack. Its razor-sharp fangs began to glow as it sped towards its target, but before it could even execute the attack, the silvery-white-bodied pokémon flapped its mighty wings and unleashed another sub-aquatic Whirlwind.

The tornado of water again swallowed up both Sharpedo and Mantine and sent them shooting up towards the ocean's surface with incredible speed. They were out of sight in less than an instant.

This left the four divers floating alone and unprotected against these mysterious ocean beasts. They all half-expected the barbarous pokémon to tear them apart right then and there, and they braced themselves accordingly when the silvery-white pokémon neared them with a furious look on its face.

But they were shocked when the pokémon's narrowed eyes began to glow bright white and seemed to emit some sort of psychic waves. Then, as if the creature was speaking to them telekinetically, the four divers heard an ominous and stern voice in their heads.

"_You have been warned. You are not welcome here! Leave this area and do not return! The object you are searching for shall not leave its resting place!"_

And instantly after they heard the voice, the pokémon discharged yet another Whirlwind, and the four divers were blasted off (again) towards the surface.

When the divers' heads finally surfaced above the water, they remained treading water for a few moments. The lead diver removed his scuba mask and took a huge gulp of fresh air before scowling at their failure to unearth what they had set out for.

"What the hell were those things?" the man shouted angrily. His gray and silver hair was soaked and matted down.

The other three divers removed their masks as well. Jesse, James and Meowth all shivered when the stiff sea breeze stung their exposed wet skin.

"W-well, Mr. Sai… S-s-sir," James replied, his teeth chattering as he spoke. "You see, J-Jesse, Meowth and I have seen those pokémon b-b-before."

"What? You have?"

"Well… yes, Sir," Jesse said as she coughed up some of the water she had swallowed. "We've encountered both of those muscular monstrosities during our time with Team Rocket."

"Yeeah," Meowth spoke up. "Doz two terrifyin' titans were Kyogre and Lugia! Dair both powerful legendary pokémon who rule da sea!"

"That's right," James agreed. "And they certainly didn't seem very pleased to see us down there, did they?"

* * *

_There is it! Please please pretty please leave a review! I will review yours if you leave one :)_


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Sacred Fire

_A/N: Please, if you even partially enjoy parts of my story, take a minute to leave a Review. I would greatly appreciate all the feedback I can get._

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* * *

_**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: SACRED FIRE

* * *

**

_By Legacy_

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* * *

_

"But Dad, I want to help too!"

"Ben, we've been over this again and again," the boy's father replied sternly as he nervously peered out of the bedroom window overlooking the city. The man then hurriedly threw on his leather jacket and checked the pockets for his pokéballs.

"But Dad! I'm a trainer now! Me and Tyrogue can help stop these mean people who want to take over our city!" the young boy with sandy brown hair insisted as he and his baby Pokémon sat anxiously on his bed.

"Ty-Roogue!" the creature adamantly agreed with clenched fists.

"Ben!" The boy's father stopped and gave his son a very severe look. "No! You're only ten. You're way too young! I know you want to help, but this isn't just some schoolyard Pokémon battle. It's too dangerous."

The man walked over to the bed where his son was sitting. He bent over and gave the boy a big hug, squeezing him much harder and longer than normal… then led him by the shoulders towards the small closet on the opposite side of the boy's small bedroom. The small, purple-skinned Pokémon which Ben had received only a week earlier, on his tenth birthday, hopped down from the bed as well and obediently followed its trainer across the room.

"Now, I want you and Tyrogue to sit here in the closet and wait with the door closed," the father instructed, kneeling down so he could be at eye-level with his son. He opened the closet door, and coaxed the boy and his companion inside the small stall.

The man continued to look and sound very serious, saying, "Now, I don't want you two to come out for any reason – any reason at all – until I come back. Do I make myself clear?"

"But Dad, what if –"

"DO… I make myself… clear?"

The boy knew that the tone his father was using meant that he shouldn't continue on arguing. Biting his tongue, Ben stared down at the ground somewhat disappointedly and muttered, "Yes, Dad."

"Good," the man replied.

He patted the boy on the shoulder and tried to smile. He took what he hoped would not be his last look at his ten year old son and ruffled his brown hair lovingly before shutting the door. With that, the man took a deep breath and ran out of the room.

Inside the now pitch-black closet, Ben and Tyrogue sat on the hardwood floor quietly for a few minutes, growing more and more restless by the second. To pass the time, Ben tried whistling tunes and talking to Tyrogue about gym battles. But after a while, the two companions simply couldn't sit still any longer. Finally, Ben stood up and felt around until his hand found the door knob. He slowly opened the door, allowing the light to trickle inside the small cell through the open crack.

"Real Pokémon trainers don't hide in closets when there's trouble," he said with a determined expression. He looked down at his partner in crime, who nodded in agreement. "Come on, Tyrogue! Let's go!"

…

Meanwhile, outside the boy's house, at the very edge of the beautiful metropolitan city of Goldenrod, a large group of the town's people had gathered along with their Pokémon in front of the city's entrance along the border. They all stood side by side like the front line of an army, solemnly staring off into the distance, apparently waiting for something. They wielded baseball bats, crowbars, and other blunt objects which they felt could be used to defend their city, while their loyal group of Pokémon all stood on guard beside them.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd pointed out towards the horizon and hollered, "Here they come!"

Instantly, all the townspeople's heads shot up to look. Sure enough, approaching from the distance, a platoon of men could be seen marching down the long and winding dirt path towards Goldenrod City. They all wore threatening expressions on their otherwise emotionless faces and were dressed in all-black suits with blood-red 'TR' logos emblazoned on the left lapel of their jackets.

And treading right in the middle of the formation of marchers was the towering and terrorizing presence of the Killer Pokémon – M3, as the mysterious new Team Rocket leader had called it. Many of the Goldenrod citizens recognized the beast right away from the televised terrorist attack at Sapphire Stadium. Its eyes emitted their familiar blazing red glow through the complex-looking steel mask on its face. Its stare was eagerly fixed upon all the people, Pokémon and buildings which, in its mind, were waiting to be destroyed. But the townspeople firmly stood their ground as the group of agents neared with every intention of taking over their city.

"Well, look what we have here!" the Rocket agent at the head of the pack said with a chuckle when they finally reached the edge of the city and met the barricade of brave residents with barely ten feet separating the two sides. "What? You think baseball bats and broom sticks can stop us from taking your city?"

All of the black-clad men laughed out load at how pathetic the Goldenrod residents' defensive efforts were. M3 let loose a terrifying shriek and viciously whipped its long tail in anticipation of the carnage that would soon occur. Despite the grave situation they faced if they did not surrender, each and every one of the assembled citizens stood firm like statues, continuing to block the entrance to their city. Some wore frightened expressions on their faces, but all were united as they refused to just give up their home to the forces of evil.

"Don't be stupid! No one has to get killed here today... Why don't you all just go home? We're just here to relieve your city leaders and law enforcement officials of their duties. We also want to use that big radio tower of yours. Allow us to do what we came to do and no one has to die!

"You have all seen what the new Team Rocket regime is now capable of. Our boss warned you not to disobey our commands. We don't need to tell you what will happen if you fail to cooperate."

The large group of people still did not budge. Both the townspeople and the soldiers continued to stare each other down, each waiting for the other group to make the first move. The Team Rocket agents were ready to storm the city if need be, with the same violent force as they had done at the stadium. The Goldenrod City residents were equally up to the task, ready to bravely defend their home and livelihoods.

After a few moments of silent tension, the stand off was suddenly interrupted by a small voice towards the back of the group of townspeople.

"Lemme through! Lemme through!"

A young boy recklessly pushed his way through the crowd and up to the front of the group where he saw the brigade of soldiers and their red-eyed monster. A small human-shaped Pokémon trailed behind the boy.

"Ben! NO! Come back here!" another voice from the group of residents desperately called out.

But before anyone of the Goldenrod townspeople could stop him, the young boy rushed towards the group of soldiers and pointed menacingly at their tyrannical Pokémon.

"You jerks aren't going to take our town without a fight!"

Amid the terrified gasps of his people, which Ben ignored, the boy commanded his Tyrogue to attack with a confident and almost arrogant look on his rosy-cheeked face. This was his chance to prove his worth as a trainer. His city needed him.

"Tyrogue! Use Tackle on that thing!" he bellowed, feeling the adrenaline rush through his blood. This must be what the famous trainers he watched on T.V. felt like.

The small brown and purple Pokémon clenched its fists and took off as fast as its skinny legs would carry it towards its much bigger opponent. The Team Rocket agents just sort of chuckled at the boy and moved out of the way, allowing his puny Tyrogue to smash into M3's leg with its Tackle attack. Upon contact, Tyrogue simply bounced off of the creature like it had just sprinted full speed into a brick wall. The diminutive fighting-type was propelled backwards and fell clumsily to the ground, while the metal armored beast wasn't affected in the slightest.

Looking only slightly annoyed, M3 stared down at the pathetic baby Pokémon that had foolishly dared to attack it. The red glow of its narrowed eyes and the blazing orb in its chest intensified, its jaws opened wide, exposing the jagged row of fangs and the deadly red ball of energy that was charging inside. The confident expressions of both Ben and Tyrogue's faces had instantly disappeared and were now replaced by looks of sheer terror and regret as they watched the huge Pokémon charge up its lethal attack, which was clearly being aimed at both of them.

But suddenly, a piercing, banshee-like scream from the heavens above interrupted the scene.

And before anyone had a chance to look up to see what had made the noise, a mystical beam of red flames surrounded by an indescribable shimmering radiance came blasting down from the sky. The fiery energy bolt hit M3 squarely in unarmored part of it gut and sent it sprawling to the ground just before it could unleash its attack on the boy.

Obviously alarmed by the abrupt attack on their unstoppable beast, the soldiers all directed their attention skyward where they saw the source of the mysterious fire attack. Everyone, including all the townspeople, gasped when they saw a huge red bird with a massive wingspan and yellow tail feathers soaring through the air. Its entire sleek and slender body was enveloped by a dazzling golden aura, and it trailed an awe-inspiring, sparkling rainbow behind it as it glided.

The majestic flying Pokémon was certainly quite a sight to behold. The bird flapped its powerful wings and came swooping down like a comet towards Team Rocket's beast, which had returned to its metal-covered feet since being toppled by the bird's sneak attack.

Forgetting about its inferior competition – the kid and his Tyrogue – the creature began shooting beam after beam of deadly red energy into the air towards the incoming flying Pokémon. But with awesome speed, agility and grace, the winged fire-type flier dodged each and every lethal attack that flew at it with ease.

After narrowly avoiding the final blast from the evil beast, the mysterious bird fired another blazing hot attack from its beak and down towards the ground like a laser. This one was aimed at the gang of Team Rocket agents. The mighty streak of enchanted fire exploded upon impact with the ground where the group stood. The extreme heat of the attack charred the ground to the same black color as the soldiers' uniforms. Several of the Rocket grunts were killed instantly, their decimated bodies sent flying along with the debris from the ground.

The remaining agents fearfully scattered, but M3 remained determined to kill this strange bird. It continued to unleash more of its homicidal beams of deathly energy, but the zooming feathered creature streaked across the sky like a missile, again moving too fast for the killer to destroy it.

Finally, after exhausting itself with multiple failed attacks, the armored Team Rocket beast ran out of the necessary strength too keep fighting. Its red beams grew weaker and weaker with every blast until it could no longer discharge them.

It was at this time that the flying Pokémon struck. With another majestic explosion of sparkling red fire, M3 was sent flying and crash-landed hard into the ground, crushing several of the remaining soldiers under its weight.

Sensing that the situation was now slipping from their control, the lead agent who had first addressed the townspeople held his arm up and commanded the remainder of his troops to retire. His face, which had been smug and arrogant when the Rocket agents had first arrived at the Goldenrod border, was now showing definite signs of fear and confusion after the unexpected attack from the fire-breathing bird had interrupted their plan. He knew it was time to retreat and regroup, but how could this have happened?

"Agents! We must return to headquarters! Fall back! Fall back!" he shouted amid the angry shrieks of bird and the terrified screams of his agents.

M3 returned to its feet, and judging by its body language once it picked itself up, it looked more enraged than ever and ready to unleash more attacks. But as the head Rocket agent commanded its creature to fall back with the rest of them, the beast's chest jewel glowed brighter and it relented. The bipedal monster obediently followed the pack of agents as they withdrew down the same path on which they had come.

As the surviving agents retreated, their commander's head was still spinning after their failed attempt at taking over Goldenrod City. What the hell had happened? What in the world was that mysterious bird that had protected the town? As he and his men tried to catch their breath and let the gruesome loss of several of their men sink in, the man removed his cell phone from the pocket of his now torn and tattered jacket. He punched a few buttons then held the device to his ear, seething with rage as he awaited an answer.

…

Inside his dimly lit office, the Boss sat behind his desk, monitoring his various teams' progress on his computer as they traveled from region to region, city to city, establishing the new Team Rocket's dominance. Suddenly, the man's cell phone ring interrupted him. Without looking away from his computer screen, he reached into his black blazer's pocket and retrieved his phone.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Ah, Agent Tyson, I was just thinking of you… I trust you are calling to tell me that the mission in Goldenrod City went w –

"WHAT? What the fuck happened? Impossible! How many men did we lose?"

The Rocket boss jumped out of his chair and screamed angrily at his field agent as he began to pace nervously back and forth across the room. This was most definitely not the news he had expected to hear from the team that had been assigned to travel along with M3. How on earth could they fail with his unbeatable Killer Pokémon at their side?

"A flying fire-bird Pokémon? What did it look like? Sparkling fire beams? Trailing a rainbow?"

Hearing about the mysterious protector of Goldenrod City immediately caused the man to feel a chill down his spine. Was it possible that there was a Pokémon out there that was powerful enough to defeat his precious M3?

"Well, get back here on the double then, Tyson! We must heal the creature quickly! NO one can find out about this! I'll deal with YOU when you and your men return!"

The man hung up and pounded his fist angrily against his desk so hard that he nearly knocked his entire desktop computer onto the floor. Still writhing with rage, the wheels in his mind appeared to be turning, as he just sat behind his desk and stared at the wall for a few moments. The angry scowl on his face seemed to intensify by the second. Finally, he picked his phone back up and dialed a different number.

After a few seconds, he barked irately, "What is your status? You've been in Pallet Town long enough! Where is Ketchum? I'm sick of waiting! I want you to bring me that kid NOW!"

* * *

**BACK IN PALLET TOWN...**

**

* * *

**

Ash tried to lose himself in the perpetual blackness all around him. The insides of his eyelids were all he tried to focus on as he lay on his back on the lumpy mattress Professor Oak had set up for him in one of the laboratory's utility rooms. Only a faint bit of moonlight was able to peek in through the single window right above the head of the makeshift bed. But as much as the fifteen-year-old tried to clear his mind of all the unbelievable events that had had occurred over the past week, there was just no way he was going to be able to fall asleep. Ash had certainly been through his fair share of adventure over the years, but never had he experienced anything like this before.

It had all started over a week ago with the mysterious "gift" he had received just before his first match in the tournament. A single gold coin with five tiny, colorful gemstones fastened to its shiny surface... a gift that apparently possessed some amazing powers, which Ash experienced on more than one occasion. Without the slightest idea of who might have left him such a thing or how such powers could even exist, Ash's mind was wild with speculation.

Then there was Alexis Moss – the beautiful girl on a search for her lost older sister – whom Ash had met outside of the Pokémon Center in Sapphire City on the night before his second tournament match. To Ash, Lexi was essentially a total stranger, yet she was the only person who knew his biggest secret: the fact that he had cheated death with the help of his magical coin. She had witnessed its power at work: when Ash was able to survive a lethal Hyperbeam attack by Zak Seabrook's Tentacruel. And so it should have been obvious to Ash that it had been Lexi that had saved his life by returning the coin to him after he had been put into the hospital. Who else would have known that the coin would heal him? At the time, Ash had thought Lexi had left forever, but now – strangely – she was here in Pallet Town.

Ash's swirling late-night thoughts gradually shifted towards the suspicious appearance from a man named Professor Willow who had inexplicably mentioned Ash's father. Even though the boy had always felt like he had no father after the man had abandoned him and his mother years ago, something about how Willow spoke about the man made Ash curious to the point where a small part of him was beginning to question what he thought he knew about his past.

And on top of all that, the chilling resurrection of the former crime ring, Team Rocket was perhaps the most prominent thing on Ash's mind. Watching video footage of the new Team Rocket's terrifying killer creature absolutely destroying the very stadium where Ash had stood just days ago really hit the boy close to home. He thought about Lance and Cynthia's Pokémon, both of whom had been killed during the attack along with hundreds of innocent people. Ever since the mysterious 'Boss' had made his coronation announcement on live television, the entire world had been living in fear. Most were too afraid to find out whether or not the new self-proclaimed "leaders" of the world could be stopped. They had seen what Team Rocket's evil beast was capable of doing, and most conceded that there wasn't much they could do.

Despite how upset the whole situation made Ash, he yawned. He was beginning to tire, his jumbled thoughts starting to run together in his head. He could feel himself slip back and forth, in and out of consciousness. During his last few moments of coherence before falling asleep, Ash thought about when he had seen Lance and Cynthia on T.V., looking battered and beaten in that nasty-looking jail cell. As he finally drifted off into the night, the boy clenched his fists one last time, determined to do everything he could to stop –

"Ouch!" Ash shouted suddenly as a strange and painful sensation near his face awoke him. He sat up quickly and began flailing his arms. "What gives? Pikachu, is that you?"

Although whatever had attacked Ash's face had since ceased since he had woken up, he continued to flop, trying to fumble with the lamp near his bedside. Finally, when he was able to flip the lights on, the boy saw that Pikachu, who was still sleeping comfortably next to him, had not been the culprit. When his eyes had fully refocused, he saw what had been pecking at his face.

It was a Noctowl. The wide-eyed bird of prey calmly sat on the open window sill. It stared intently at Ash and greeted him with a quick hoot.

"Hey, Noctowl," Ash said a bit groggily, rubbing his cheek where it had been pecking him. "What are you doing here? It's almost midnight."

Ash quickly realized however, that this Noctowl wasn't his own. His Noctowl, which did live on Professor Oak's property, was much smaller and differently colored than this one. Ash just stared at the creature, looking confused until he saw it: a small roll of white paper fastened to the Pokémon's leg.

He gently removed the piece of paper and thanked the Pokémon for delivering it, whatever it was. Noctowl hooted in acknowledgment and flew out the open window and off into the night. Ash unfurled the roll of paper and began to read.

* * *

_Ash -_

_It's Professor Willow. I'm using my Noctowl to contact you since all internet and other communications are now being monitored by Team Rocket._

_I trust you saw the attack this morning and know about Team Rocket's return to power and their plan to kill Lance and Cynthia as an example of their strength. I just want to let you know that their threats are indeed very real and very dangerous._

_This is why I am writing. After today's events, it is now more vital than ever that you come see me in private on Cinnabar Island (I never made it past Cinnabar after your party since the airports are currently out of commission)._

_Ash, I know I probably confused you earlier tonight when I mentioned your father, but I assure you that was not my intention. The reason I came to your house in Pallet was because the time has come for you to learn the truth about both your past and who you really are. I wanted to tell you about everything while I was there, but I realized that it wasn't the appropriate venue._

_Ultimately, it is up to you whether or not you want to accept the challenge I have for you. I assure you that what I have to tell you will not be easy to hear. But with the recent events that have unfolded, I think our meeting could hold the key to stopping the evil that threatens our world._

_If you do decide to come meet me in Cinnabar, however, please do not tell anyone. It is best if you come alone._

_Professor Willow_

_

* * *

_

Ash read the note over and over, focusing mainly on the fact that Willow had once again mentioned his father. He immediately remembered the photograph Willow had given him before he left. In it, two-year-old Ash could be seen sitting on his father's lap, the two raven-haired males looking very happy together with no signs that the elder would someday abandon the boy. Still, Ash was skeptical because it was rather difficult to be asked to forget about everything he had ever known about his childhood and trust some strange, bald-headed scientist to tell him that he had been living a lie. In spite of this however, Ash felt a distinct sense of curiosity as he read the man's scribbled words once again.

He questioned the professor's previous implication that his father was some sort of brave and noble savior… because that wasn't the man Ash knew his father to be. Regardless, the teen was confused as to what good it would do for him to travel to Cinnabar Island to meet the professor. How on earth would their meeting "hold the key to stopping the evil that threatens our world," as Willow had claimed?

A warm voice from the door suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey, whataya reading, Ash?"

Ash turned to see the very alluring brown-haired girl standing in his doorway, her smooth, long legs exposed by the skimpy boxer shorts she was wearing. Ash felt his pulse quicken slightly at the site of the girl. He was certainly very aware of Lexi's shapely figure and radiant, smooth skin. And although he found it more than a bit odd that she had been so forward in confessing that she thought he was "amazing" earlier that night, a part of the teen didn't mind in the slightest that someone as beautiful as Lexi had taken a liking to him.

"Hello?" the girl's voice again grabbed his attention away from his daydreaming. "Whatcha got there?"

"Huh! Oh, hey Lexi… uh… nothing," he said, forgetting that he had been holding Professor Willow's letter in front of him.

But it was too late. Lexi had seen Ash try to hide the note behind his back. She had an inquisitive but sly look on her face as she playfully jumped up onto the bed with Ash, continuing the flirtatious behavior she had been displaying ever since she'd arrived in Pallet Town. She tried reaching for the crumpled piece of paper, but Ash pulled away.

"Oh, come on! Lemme see! Lemme see!" she said, as she began to tickle him in order to get to the note.

"Ha! Cut it out, Lexi!"

Ash tried to resist the girl tickling him. He didn't want her to see the note simply because Willow had specifically told him not to tell anyone about it. Plus, he didn't want his laughter to awaken Pikachu, who was still sleeping soundly near the foot of the bed.

Finally, Lexi managed to pry the note away from the squirming boy and immediately jumped off the bed so that she could read it before he tried to steal it back.

"What is this, Ash? A love letter from that Dawn girl or something?" she giggled before she read it.

"Hey! Come on! Give that back!"

The expression on the girl's face went from amused to shocked as her bright brown eyes scanned the words of the note.

"Ash… you're not seriously thinking about going to see Professor Willow are you? I mean, your mom and Professor Oak seemed pretty serious about staying home earlier. And this note seems kind of suspicious don't you think? Him wanting you to be all secretive and go by yourself."

Ash sighed. This was exactly the reason why he hadn't wanted to show her or anyone the note in the first place. He didn't know if he was planning on actually going to Cinnabar Island to meet Willow, but if he did decide to, it would have been a whole lot easier to just sneak out of the lab if no one knew.

"I don't know," Ash said, trying not to look the pretty girl in the eye. "Maybe."

Lexi sat back down on the bed next to Ash and grabbed his arm just like she had done earlier that night during their time alone in the Ketchums' backyard.

"Ash… I don't think it's a good idea. What if Professor Willow isn't really trying to help you. What if it's a trap of some kind. I mean, Team Rocket already captured Lance, Cynthia, and a bunch of other top trainers from the tournament…what if they're after you too? Willow might be trying to trap you!"

Ash pondered this for a moment. This whole situation with Willow had been rather odd.

"Look, Lexi," Ash said, finally turning to look at her. "I really appreciate your concern, but I don't know what else to do, ya know? I mean, I can't stand being cooped up in here while so many innocent people are being hurt or killed out there! If there is some way I can help, I'm gonna do it!"

Ash stood up hastily from the bed as he continued on his rant. His voice, however, softened considerably. He sounded almost whimsical as he spoke.

"I mean, I know I'm just some kid, and I probably can't and won't be able to make much of a difference… but I guess I just think that the more people that stand up to these guys, and the more people that refuse to let them just take everything from us, the better the chance we all have to beat them, ya know?

"If we all just sit back and accept the fact that Team Rocket is unbeatable... well, then they definitely will be. And as for Lance and Cynthia – they're my friends. They've always been nothing but kind and supportive of me, and I've just got to at least try to do something to help save them. I… can't… I can't just sit here and watch them die."

Ash plopped back down on the bed next to Lexi. He was now sweating and breathing heavily from anger at the entire situation. Thinking about the attack on Sapphire Stadium again made him so furious that he was beginning to feel funny. He felt a sharp tingling sensation in his finger tips and down his spine, as if Pikachu had just blasted him with an electric attack. He ignored the pain, however, knowing full well that any lingering injuries from the past week would soon be completely healed by his coin.

"Ash... wow," Lexi said finally, obviously touched by what he had said. "I can already see, you're one of those stubborn types. The kind of guy who won't listen to me if I tried to convince you to stay."

"Probably not," the boy said as he walked across the utility room to where his green backpack was sitting on the floor. He retrieved it and took out his gray hooded sweatshirt and shoes.

"Look, Ash," she said, sounding rather guilty. "I didn't want to say anything before because I was scared and your mother specifically said earlier that she didn't want you to go looking for trouble, but it sounds like this is important to you…"

He finally looked over at Lexi with interest.

"Go on…"

"Well, you know when we were watching that terrible stuff on T.V. this morning and they showed that creepy Pokémon battle field with the Team Rocket logo on it that looked like it was built in the middle of a forest?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, when we were watching that, I thought I recognized that area of the forest."

"What? Are you saying that you've seen that field before?"

"Well no, not exactly," Lexi said. "You see, I noticed that there was a bunch of oddly shaped trees surrounding that field when they showed it. And well, those trees looked a lot like this one particular species called the Goldwood Pine that I know only grows on the a series of islands called the Cahill Islands.

"Where are the Cahill Islands?"

"They're just south of the Sevii Islands, which is where I grew up. You see, when I was a kid, I was doing some ocean exploring one day, and I ended up on the Cahill Islands somehow… don't ask how.

"Anyways, I noticed that there were these beautiful and unique-shaped trees all over the island, unlike anything I'd ever seen. And one of the islands, the southernmost one… has a giant forest full of them."

"So, you're saying that you think that field is in that forest?"

"Yeah, I think it could be!"

"Lexi! That's great! If I can find that field, maybe I can save Lance and Cynthia before it's too late! Why didn't you mention this before?"

Lexi blushed. "Sorry, I just didn't want to say anything in front of the others. And well..."

"Well, what?" Ash replied curiously.

"... I just thought that if you knew, you wouldn't be willing to help me find my sister," Lexi said quietly, looking noticeably "But I know how serious this is, Lance and Cynthia don't have much time."

Ash bent down to tie his shoes, then walked over to where the girl was seated on the bed. He cleared his throat a bit nervously before finally plopping down next to her. Perhaps that was why Lexi had come to Pallet Town so suddenly. She just wanted help from him tracking down her sister, Professor Moss.

"Lexi ..." Ash began, then hesitated when he didn't know how to continue. He felt terrible to even insinuate that saving Lance and Cynthia should take priority over finding Lexi's sister, but they had a lead on the champions' possible whereabouts, and he had to pursue it.

"I know, Ash. It's okay," the girl replied.

"I promise, if I make it back, I will do everything I can to help you find your sister."

After a brief moment of silence, Ash jumped up from the bed excitedly and threw on his clothes over his pajamas. He didn't know how he was going to get to the Cahill Islands. He didn't know what he was going to do once he got there even. But he felt that familiar flame of determination burning strong inside of him. At least this was a start.

"Wait. You're not thinking about sneaking out tonight and going there by yourself are you?" Lexi asked nervously from the bed when she saw the boy was packing to leave.

"Yup. What my mom and Professor Oak don't know, won't hurt them."

"Well, I'm coming with you then," the girl replied firmly. "I'm not gonna let you go all by yourself."

Ash was a bit caught off guard by how strongly Lexi seemed to want to accompany him. He had already promised to help her find her big sister, so why did she still insist on coming along? Ash started to argue that it was too dangerous for her to come with, but when he looked up and gazed into her beautiful brown eyes, he saw by the stoney expression on her face that she wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer.

* * *

**MEANWHILE**

**

* * *

**

Dawn exhaled deeply as she tried to fall asleep in one the small cots Professor Oak had prepared for her and the others in one of his laboratory's spare rooms. She tried squeezing her eyes shut tightly, she tried just staring up at the ceiling, she tried laying in multiple positions and counting Mareeps, but nothing seemed to work.

All the fourteen-year-old from Twinleaf Town could do was lie awake and think about was how scary the world had become recently and how suddenly it had happened.

Not that long ago, she had been traveling around with Ash as he sharpened his skills against circuits of gym leaders. After briefly separating after their Sinnoh Region adventures, Dawn and Ash reunited a few months later and had been inseparable ever since. She loved the life she and Ash had been sharing together ever since they had met. The two of them had shared countless adventures, memories, and laughs over the years.

Back when she first met Ash, Dawn's problems had seemed so small compared to those of the present day: Which restaurant would they stop at during their travels? When would she get a chance to go shopping next? Which dress should she wear for her latest Pokémon contest? But all that had changed ever since they had arrived in Sapphire City for the tournament.

Since then, she had watched the near-death of the boy who meant more to her than anything else in the world. She had felt the terrifying prospect of losing him as she watched his life slipping away in the hospital. She had been forced to endure the painful realization that Ash now had many thousands of female admirers throughout the world. And after seeing his behavior around Lexi, Dawn had had to deal with the fear that Ash might never return the romantic feelings that she had developed for him over the years.

And in addition to all that, the peaceful world she had always known was now being taken over by the ruthless and powerful Team Rocket. The uneasy feeling of not knowing whether she and her friends would be ever feel safe or enjoy the freedoms that they were used to ever again tormented the girl as she tried to sleep. Confusion, fear, curiosity, anger, and a million other emotions swirled around her brain as she stared out the window overlooking the beautiful, moon-lit town of Pallet.

Dawn shivered when she thought about all the lives that had been and would be ruined, if not ended entirely, by Team Rocket's regime. Those who wished to live would have to abide by their rules and dictatorship… and those who did not wish to recognize them as the rulers of the world would be killed.

All during that day, Dawn had been watching the Team Rocket-controlled programming on television, even though Delia and Professor Oak had urged her not to because the broadcast's sole purpose was to intimidate and scare people into bowing down to them. And in Dawn's case especially, their goal of inciting fear had worked.

She had watched as news of more and more of the top trainers from the tournament being captured was being reported. Terrible images of the likes of Glacia, Wallace, Jimmy Gold, and other world famous trainers, looking beaten and bruised as they were thrown in the same dark and dingy prison cells as Lance and Cynthia had been. The Rocket broadcasters delighted in reporting each and every high-profile capture live under the guise of a legitimate newscast.

With every elite trainer that Team Rocket captured, the chances for any kind of revolt seemed to lessen. With many of the most powerful battlers in the world now being held in captivity, who would be left to stop this madness?

This caused Dawn to think about Ash again.

As she wiped a few frightened tears from her eyes, she scolded herself for even entertaining the thought that Team Rocket might come for Ash as they had done with so many of the other tournament participants. She knew how special and talented he was, but maybe… hopefully, the bad guys would just forget about Ash since he still only fifteen years old and didn't match the typical description of a superstar trainer.

Dawn eventually grew fed up with trying to fall asleep. She sat up in her cot and climbed out carefully so as not to awaken Piplup, who was still fast asleep near the foot of the bed. Professor Oak had told them they were all safe here in his laboratory, and in her mind, Dawn knew Ash was fast asleep in his cot, but for whatever reason, she wanted to see him.

She felt the cold hardwood underneath her bare feet as she tiptoed across the room and out the door, while Brock, Misty, May and Max continued to snore away.

As Dawn quietly exited the room and began walking down the long hallway towards the room where Ash was sleeping, she shivered when the chilly air hit her bare arms and legs. She wished she had remembered to grab her robe, but she wouldn't be gone long, she thought. She just wanted to go see him… to see him sleeping safely and soundly with her own eyes. Perhaps such a sight would comfort her enough so that she could finally get to sleep.

Suddenly however, Dawn's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a muffled voice from nearby. She stopped walking briefly so that she could try to hear more clearly. Was it Ash? It couldn't be Ash, she concluded. Ash's room was at the end of the hall.

The nearly inaudible male voice sounded frantic, although Dawn couldn't tell where exactly it was coming from as it was still too faint. She followed the sound of the suppressed voice down the hall. It got louder and louder until Dawn found herself in front of one of the utility closets. She quietly placed her ear up to the closet door, and sure enough… the voice was coming from inside.

Without hesitating, Dawn turned the knob and swiftly swung the door open.

"Ash?"

"Wah!" the brown-haired teen in the closet whirled around and yelped after being startled.

It was Tracey. He had been talking on his cell phone, which he nervously buried in his pocket as soon as he saw Dawn.

"Tracey?"

"Oh… um… hey, Dawn. W-what are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep," Dawn said, eyeing the brown-haired young man suspiciously. "Why are you in the closet? Who were you on the phone with?"

"Oh… umm… no one," Tracey replied, his dark, beady eyes darting back and forth nervously. "I was just... checking my messages."

Dawn didn't believe Tracey in the slightest, but quickly forgot about it when she heard more voices. This time, they were coming from the nearby room where Ash was sleeping.

"Do you hear that?" Dawn asked, although she didn't wait for Tracey to respond.

She walked towards Ash's room and peered inside through the crack of the door.

Inside, she saw Ash seated on his cot. He was wide awake and fully dressed in his familiar blue jeans, black t-shirt, and the navy blue baseball cap that Dawn had given to him as a gift before the tournament, which was now a bit tattered and torn due to the Zak Seabrook incident.

But as pleased as Dawn was to see that Ash was still wearing the gift she had given him despite its now-shabby appearance, she was equally unhappy to notice the curvacious girl who was seated cross-legged on the bed very close to him.

Dawn felt her face get hot. She stared at the girl with the same level of contempt that she had had for Misty. Neither of those girls had been there for Ash for as long as she had, and it made her so angry to see both Misty and Lexi trying to trespass on her territory.

Lexi especially, with her extremely short boxer shorts, her captivating curves, and her low-cut, snug-fitting top, really caused the jealousy to boil inside of Dawn. And what was even more infuriating to her was the fact that Ash really seemed to become attracted to Lexi right away. And for how long had he known her, a few days? Dawn had been with Ash almost everyday since she was ten, and he had never so much as hinted that he even noticed any girl in that way, much less Dawn.

Not being able to contain herself anymore, Dawn hastily pushed the door open, which caused Ash and Lexi to jump.

"Am I interrupting?" she asked snidely.

"Oh! Dawn," Ash said after he realized who it was. "What are you doing up?"

"I could ask you two the same thing," she replied, giving Lexi a glare. "What's going on in here?"

Ash paused, looking extremely nervous. "Uhh… nothing."

Dawn saw the apprehensiveness with which Ash spoke, which made her even more upset as she figured it was because she had caught him and Lexi alone.

"Oh, just forget it," Dawn said coldly, trying not stop herself from crying. She regretted even entering the room now. "You two have fun in here."

Dawn started to stomp out of the room. Ash just stared up at her, totally confused as to why she was so upset. Lexi, on the other hand, understood completely. A part of her just wanted to let Dawn storm out of the room and allow her to think what she was obviously thinking. But the girl's compassionate side won out, and she stood up quickly and called out to Dawn before she could leave.

"Dawn, wait!"

Dawn stopped as she was still half-way out the door. Without turning around, she snapped, "What do you want?"

"It's honestly not what you think," Lexi said calmly.

Ash still looked as confused as ever. He whispered to Lexi, "What's not what she thinks?"

Lexi ignored the boy's density and walked over to Dawn.

"Look," she said. "I'm only here because Mr. Hero over here insists on trying to sneak out to go save Cynthia and Lance before tomorrow's 'big battle.'"

"Lexi!" Ash hissed.

"Ash, she's here now! You might as well tell her!"

He sighed. Lexi was right. Now that Dawn had caught them, he might as well let her in on it.

Ash convinced Dawn to sit down next to him on the bed, and he told her everything. He told her about Professor Willow's Noctowl waking him up. He showed her the suspicious note Willow had sent to him, and told her about Lexi's suspicions about the professor's allegiance and trustworthiness. He told her about Lexi's theory that the mysterious battle field where Lance and Cynthia would be killed was located somewhere on the Cahill Islands, and how they were planning on sneaking out to save them.

When Ash had finished explaining, Dawn looked a bit less angry, but still very scared.

"Ash! You can't! It's too-"

"Dangerous, I know!" he said, cutting Dawn off. "But my mind's made up! I'm going!"

He was about to try to plead with Dawn to not tell his mother or Professor Oak, but the girl stood up with a bold expression on her face.

"Well, I'm coming along too!"

"We all are!" another voice called out from the doorway.

Lexi, Dawn and Ash all turned to see Misty, May, Brock and Max standing in the doorway. Pikachu came bounding into the room as well and leaped up onto Ash's lap.

"Pikapi!"

"Guys?" Ash looked surprised to see everyone was now awake and in his room.

"We heard Dawn get up," May explained. "Oh… and we're going with you guys too."

"You guys heard –"

"We heard everything," Misty said as she walked over towards Ash and sat down next to him. "And it sounds dangerous and probably really stupid, but we're not letting you guys go alone." She chuckled at the fact that Ash and his 'hero syndrome' hadn't changed a bit over the years.

"Yeah, we've been through a lot together over the years," Brock pointed out with a smile. "And we all make a pretty good team."

"Pika!" Ash's Pokémon cried as it snuggled up close with the boy.

"That's right!" Max agreed. "We know it won't be easy, but we have a much better chance of saving Lance, Cynthia and the others if we do it together."

Ash looked around the room at all of them. He felt tears well up in his eyes as he realized how lucky he truly was to have such loyal and devoted friends by his side, all of whom were more than willing to risk their own safety to help him on this mission.

"Thanks guys," Ash said, his eyes twinkling happily and gratefully. "You're… you're the best. All of you."

"I just have one question," May said finally. "How are we going to get there? It's not exactly like we can just walk to these Islands."

"We could use Kirlia to teleport there," Max suggested, pulling out his psychic Pokémon's ball.

"I'm not sure if your Kirlia's Teleport is strong enough to transport all of us," Brock said gently so as not to offend the young trainer.

"Max is right though. Teleporting to the Cahill Islands will be the fastest and safest way," Lexi said thoughtfully. "We could walk from here to Viridian City. I have my Abra, Xatu and Drowzee being held at the Viridian City Pokémon Center. I dropped them off there before I came back to Pallet for Ash's party. They all know Teleport."

"That's a great idea!" Ash said excitedly. "I'm sure the three of them, plus Kirlia will be enough to get us all the to the islands."

The fifteen-year-old felt the familiar sense of excitement boiling up inside him. Despite the danger that would certainly be involved in such a reckless mission, Ash felt energized when he looked all around the room and saw each and every one of his longtime best friends ready to stand behind him.

"So it's settled then," Misty said, standing up from her sitting position on the bed. "We're really doing this?"

"Yup," Ash replied, flashing his trademark grin. "Off on another journey… just like old times!"

* * *

_To Be Continued..._

_

* * *

_

Please R/R!


	20. Chapter Nineteen: The M3 Project

_A/N: After a long layoff, here is Chapter 19... finally! Please remember to leave a REVIEW. Please :)_

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**CHAPTER NINETEEN: THE M3 PROJECT**

_By Legacy_

* * *

Ash felt it again.

A tingly sensation ran down the boy's back like needle pricks as he felt his adrenaline begin to flow. He could feel his heart pounding inside of his chest like the beat of a song. Ash normally got very excited – almost to the point of hyperventilation at times – prior to any sort of competition or long journey that he was about to set off on. This much more intense, almost electric, super-charged sensation he was feeling at the moment was similar, although he was certain that it had something to do with the mysterious gold coin he still kept in his jeans pocket.

The last time Ash had felt this level of overwhelming excitement had been prior to his first tournament match over a week ago. During that match, he had ridden the emotional high all the way to a dominating performance against Ethan Hart, astounding himself and the millions of spectators with the ease of his win. As it turned out, something about the coin that had been left on his doorstep had seemingly carried him to victory that day. And now, while Ash should have been frightened by the prospect of sneaking into the Team Rocket headquarters in order to save Lance and Cynthia, he was still hopeful that the golden metal disc and its apparent magic would bring him the same type of success.

The fifteen-year-old gazed around his makeshift bedroom at his group of loyal friends who were all huddled around him. Everyone had returned to Ash's room (Oak's utility room) after leaving to change clothes and retrieve their pokéballs and their backpacks. Now here they were, all standing by his side, ready to accompany him on his latest crazy journey... just like the old days.

It amazed Ash that not one of his friends seemed overly frightened at all. He wouldn't have blamed any of them for feeling like it was pointless to "go looking for trouble," as Professor Oak had put it. After all, none of the them, aside from Lexi, knew anything about the apparent protective magic that his strange coin possessed. As far as they knew, the weird gift he had received in Sapphire City was nothing more than a silly good luck charm and would do nothing to protect them. And while Misty, May, Max, Dawn and Brock all seemed to understand that what they were about to embark on would not be anything like the normal gym badge or contest ribbon quests that they had been used to in the past, here they were: ready to go into battle along side Ash once again.

"All right," Max said excitedly as his Kirlia, just released from its pokéball, stood beside him near Ash's mattress. "We should get going. The sooner we get to Viridian City, the sooner we can get to the Cahill Islands and save Lance and Miss Cynthia."

"Keer!" the graceful psychic Pokémon cheered in agreement as it did a little ballerina-like twirl on one leg.

"Slow down, Max," his sister warned. "First, I think we should come up with some sort of plan. I mean, what if we run into trouble? What if Team Rocket is looking for Ash just like the rest of the tournament trainers that they've captured?"

"That's why we need to leave soon, May," Max argued. "We've got to get to the Cahill Islands before the sun comes up. We won't be able to just waltz in there in broad daylight."

"Max is right!" Ash blurted out impatiently. He was barely able to contain his excitement by now. "Everyone ready? Let's get going!"

"Pika!" his loyal electric mouse, who had since awoken from its slumber, cried once he had leaped up onto Ash's shoulder.

"But Ash..." Dawn tried to calm him down a bit. She was used to the boy's recklessness after four years of traveling with him, but she agreed with May. She feared that this was not the time to be rushing into things without being prepared.

But Ash was done talking and was done sitting still. With that familiar twinkle in his auburn eyes, the boy leaped up from his seated position, almost knocking Pikachu from his shoulder in the process. He started towards the door. But as he hoisted himself up off of the mattress, his green backpack fell from the bed to the floor.

No one would have thought much of this either, except that the sound of the entire contents of the open bag spilled out upon impact. Pokéballs clanged against the hardwood. Ash's toiletries and his hand-held Pokédex device were also among the scattered items.

As the nearest person to the nondescript accident, Misty bent down to help Ash pick up his things. She gathered up his pokéballs and stuffed them back into the backpack. The redhead stopped, however, when she picked up what appeared to be a compact disc inside a clear plastic case, which had also fallen out of the boy's bag. She looked at the shiny disc with curiosity, squinting her eyes in the dim light in order to read the handwritten, masking-tape label on the front of the case.

"_The M3 Project?"_ she read aloud, sounding a bit confused. "Ash, what's this?"

Ash hadn't really been paying close attention as he had been stuffing his fallen items into his bag as fast as he could so that they could leave. When he realized Misty had been talking to him, he stopped and stared at the disc the girl was holding up. He didn't recognize it right away as was evident by the blank look on his face.

"Weird, I don't remember packing any DVDs," the raven-haired teenager said as he scratched his head.

"Well it was in your backpack," Misty replied suspiciously.

"Pikapi! Pika!" the jagged-tailed creature cried vehemently as he hopped down from the boy's shoulder and onto the floor. Pikachu was jumping around and waving his stubby arms, as though he recognized the disc and was trying to tell Ash where it had come from.

And almost as if the teen had completely comprehended the series of squeaks and cries from his furry little friend, he suddenly remembered where he had gotten that disc: Sapphire City, when that strange man in the gray business suit had literally run into him at the Pokémon Center. Of course! How could he have let it slip his mind like this?

Ash explained to his friends that he and the mysterious man had collided hard in the hallway following his first match of the tourney. After the man had yelled at him for running in the hallways, he had hurriedly gathered his fallen belongings and rushed off. In all the chaos, the man had apparently forgotten the compact disc, which Ash had picked up and intended to leave at the front desk in the lobby. But he had totally forgotten about it until now.

Despite their plan to sneak out of Oak's Laboratory and off to Viridian City, the group was now a bit curious about what this strange disc was. They might have just dismissed it as some random music CD or movie if not for the suspicious-sounding title that was etched on the label.

"The M3 Project," Brock repeated thoughtfully, scratching his spiked brown hair. "M3... Hey! Isn't that what Team Rocket is calling their big, killer Pokémon?"

"Hey, you're right, Brock," Dawn replied, her blue eyes growing wide. "That's what the voice on the T.V. called it during the attack at the stadium."

"Nonsense," Lexi scoffed, who had been silent up until now. "Ash, we don't have time to worry about some stupid CD. It's just a coincidence. We have to get to Viridian City as soon as we can. We should leave _now_."

Ash remained silent, standing remarkably still considering how excited he had been to set off to save Lance, Cynthia and the rest of the imprisoned tournament trainers just a few minutes ago. Lexi had a point. If they wanted to safely make it to the Cahill Islands, they would be much better off doing so under the protection of night. Not to mention the fact that they needed to leave before Professor Oak and Ash's mother woke up to stop them. But on the other hand, what if this disc did have something to do with Team Rocket and their monster? Anything that could offer clues about how to save the captured trainers might be worth the time.

Ash knew that his friends were waiting for him to make the decision. Over the years, they had gotten used to the boy's stubbornness, not to mention his undeniable leadership qualities that he had developed over the years. And so, the boy took the plastic disc case from Misty and opened it. He took out the disc, holding it carefully along its edges with his fingertips.

"Brock, do you have your laptop with you?" Ash asked.

"Um, yeah," the nineteen-year-old replied in his familiar deep-voiced tone. He unzipped his own backpack and took out a small, flat computer out of it. He handed it to Ash.

The teen took the device, flipped it open and turned it on. He loaded the disc into its drive before setting the computer on his bed so that the group could see. After a few seconds, the screen lit up and whatever video footage was on the CD began to play. The picture appeared to be out of focus at first, but as soon as the blurriness of the video started to fade, the group gasped at what they saw.

It was a young woman with long brown hair. Her facial features were still a bit too blurry to make out, but the slender female wore a long, white lab coat and held some sort of clipboard in her hands. The unmistakable scenery of some sort of complex-looking laboratory – much fancier than Oak's even – surrounded her as she stood like a television news reporter in front of the camera. Computers, lab equipment and various metal machines could be plainly seen in the background.

As the camera shot zoomed in closer on the female scientist's face, Ash and the others could see that she was a gorgeous young woman, probably in her early or mid-twenties. With her sparkling brown eyes and luscious figure, this young lady looked nothing like the stereotypical crusty, old scientist. Ash looked over to see Brock beginning to fidget with that goofy drooling expression he always had in the presence of a beautiful female. The fifteen-year-old just rolled his eyes at his elder.

"Aaahh! Oh my god!"

But a sudden, eardrum-rattling scream from behind the group made Ash jump.

"What? What happened?" the boy hissed as he and the others whirled around to see what had happened. He hoped his mother and Professor Oak hadn't been awoken by the shrill noise.

"Th-that! That's Kim!"

The culprit had been Lexi. She had a look of utter horror and shock on her fair-skinned face. She was pointing a trembling finger towards the computer screen as her bottom lip quivered like a tuning fork. The teenage girl collapsed to her knees as she stared at the laptop's display, her green eyes as wide as saucers. Misty and May, who were beyond confused by the girl's reaction, tried to help her to her feet, but Lexi seemed hysterical at this point and ignored the other two girls completely.

Everyone was shocked by Lexi's outburst, but assumed that she must know this female scientist somehow. Ash paused the video, leaving the female scientist's face as a still picture on his computer screen. He went over to where the girl was sitting on the floor and knelt down so that he was eye-to-eye with her.

"What's wrong, Lexi? Who's Kim? Do you know this woman?"

The brown-haired girl was still trembling slightly as she stared past Ash, never taking her eyes off of the screen.

"Ash! Wh-who did you get this video from! That...that's her! My s-s-sister!"

Instantly, Ash remembered who 'Kim' was, and he realized why Lexi had reacted so strongly to the video. Amid all the excitement of sneaking out to save the champions from Team Rocket's imprisonment, he had totally forgotten.

He quickly explained to the rest of the confused group what Lexi had told him when he had first met her outside the Sapphire Stadium Pokémon Center. The girl was still too shocked to articulate much, so Ash told everyone about how Lexi's sister had been kidnapped four years ago and was still missing to this day. And now, what a turn of events! Her long lost sister, whom Ash had secretly presumed dead up until this point, was looking back at them from Brock's computer screen.

As Ash finished filling everyone in about Kim Moss, he couldn't help but wonder if this whole thing could possibly just be some sort of coincidence. What were the chances that everything would come together like this? It was yet another very strange occurrence during this unbelievable past few weeks.

Misty and Dawn, who up until this point had held much ill-will towards Lexi because of how Ash had been looking at and treating her for the past few days, were now a bit more sympathetic when they heard about Kim. Dawn especially, who had been trying to cope with the fact that she wasn't the only girl in Ash Ketchum's life anymore, felt bad about how selfish she had been. She couldn't imagine having a loved one literally stolen from her as Lexi's sister had been.

"Lexi," Ash said finally, redirecting his attention to the hysterical girl. "I'm sorry I forgot about this video up until now. Like I said, I picked it up after that man in the Pokémon Center ran into me."

Still too shocked to speak clearly, Lexi just continued to stare at the screen. Seeing her sister's face after four years of wondering whether or not she was even alive was obviously enough to render the teenager speechless.

"Ash," Max spoke instead. "Did you get that guy's name? I mean, who was he anyway? He must have been working with whoever kidnapped Kim if he was carrying this disc."

"I don't know," Ash replied sadly as he tried to remember the collision in the hallway with the gray-suited man. "I remember we collided. I think he had a briefcase that spilled out a bunch of stuff when we fell. I remember he was really nervous because I recognized..."

Ash stopped. His eyes began to get big as he had obviously remembered something important about the encounter.

"Recognized what?" May asked as she and the others looked at Ash anxiously when he paused.

"The photo!" Ash said finally.

"Photo?"

Ash jumped up from where he had been kneeling next to Lexi. He was squinting his eyes as he tried to recreate what had happened in his mind.

"There was a photo that fell out of that guy's briefcase. I remember seeing it laying on the floor."

"Well, are you gonna tell us what it was a photo of?" Max demanded impatiently.

"Misty, Brock," Ash replied, looking at his two oldest friends. "Do you remember way back when we were traveling around Mount Quena in Johto a few years ago... and we met Mewtwo?"

"Mewtwo? Hm... I think so," Misty said, stroking her chin with her thumb and index finger as she tried to recollect.

"I remember," Brock said. "We helped rescue Mewtwo from Team Rocket... the old Team Rocket, when they were trying to take over that mountain. I wonder what ever happened to Mewtwo. I'd never seen a Pokémon quite like it before."

"Oh yeah! Mewtwo!" Misty said more confidently as her memory had been successfully jogged. "That's right. I remember now. It had some incredible psychic powers, that's for sure."

"Mewtwo?" Dawn replied, looking confused. "How come I've never heard of that Pokémon before?"

"Yeah, and what does it have to do with the photograph or any of this?" May added, sharing the rest of the group's confusion.

"Well, that photo that fell out of the man's briefcase was a picture of Mewtwo!"

"What?"

"Yeah," Ash continued. "It took me a minute to recognize it, but when I did, the man got really nervous. He ripped the picture away from me and ran off. I guess that's why he didn't realize he had dropped the disc."

"Turn it back on!" Lexi's voice again interrupted the groups discussion.

Ash and the others turned to where Lexi was still sprawled out on the floor. She was still looking hysterical as she pointed desperately at the laptop.

"P-please," was all she could muster. "I want to see her!"

"She's right, Ash," Brock said. "If Team Rocket was after Mewtwo all those years ago, and now this guy is walking around with a photo of it right before the "new" Team Rocket makes its debut..."

"Yeah," Misty agreed. "There's got to be some sort of connection! Let's see what's on this video he dropped."

"Right," Ash replied. He walked over and pressed the resume button on the computer and sat down on the floor next to Lexi to watch.

* * *

_"This... this is Professor Kimberly Moss," _the woman awkwardly announced to the camera with a bashful smirk. She clearly wasn't all that comfortable with being videotaped.

"_They uh... they told me I had to record this video report to recap my work after I finished the project... the M3 Project, I guess it's called. Well... yeah, it's done. I've finished it. The M3 Project was a success."_

The group continued to watch the screen in silence as the girl, whom they now knew as Lexi's older sister, tried to record her video log. As Ash watched, he thought it was a bit strange that Kim Moss didn't exactly seem terrified for someone who had been kidnapped. Sure, she looked a little camera shy and didn't sound very professional on the video, but overall, her body language was oddly relaxed and casual.

"What does Kim mean by 'success'?" Max asked excitedly as he turned to his sister. "What's she talking about?"

"Shhhh!" was all he got in response from the group as Kim continued on with her video self-interview.

"_So let's see...Where should I start? I-I guess it all started when you guys first brought me in to head this project like four years ago," _Kim said. _"You guys flew me in here and said you needed me to look over some research journals you guys found on New... New Island, I think it was called. _

"_Apparently, the research journals belonged to this scientist... Dr. Fugi, who had some sort of secret laboratory on that island years ago. I was told the lab had since been found a few years back completely destroyed, but some of Fugi's computer hard drives and journals were found amid the rubble and recovered._

_"Anyway, according to the journals, Dr. Fugi was using that secret lab to try and clone the legendary Pokémon, Mew, from an ancient fossil. He was apparently working to create a genetically enhanced version of the mythical feline Pokémon. "Mewtwo" is what he called his project. _

"_So when the Boss' men found the island a few years ago, they managed to recover some of the schematics and computer data from the wreckage. The Boss said he thought Fugi's 'Mewtwo Project' failed because no such Pokémon exists today... so my job was to take what the professor left behind and try to re-create 'Mewtwo.' It was my job to finish what he had started._

"_And so... the new project would be known as the 'Mewthree Project,' or 'M3' for short." _

Ash, Misty and Brock all gasped. For years, they had wondered about the strange psychic Pokémon they had encountered years ago in the Johto Region and its origin. They did find it a bit odd to hear Kim say that Mewtwo didn't exist. Ash, Misty and Brock had met Mewtwo... how could Fugi have failed? Did nobody else know that Mewtwo did in fact exist? With all that was now swirling in their minds at the moment, the Kanto trio didn't have much time to explain the situation to the others before Kimberly Moss continued on.

"_Anyways, I was brought in to help this organization reach its lofty goals by creating the most powerful and unstoppable Pokémon to ever step foot on this planet. By genetically enhancing Mew's DNA, I hoped to accomplish this feat... which would definitely cement my place in the history books as a scientist in the process._

_"As my logs show, I was able to use the Mew specimen to create my Mewthree super-clone. However, after a few months, I did run into a major snag in the operation as their wasn't nearly enough genetic data left over from Fugi's research to create a true copy of Mewtwo. Without getting too technical, I simply didn't have a power source strong enough to fuel my beast. I needed some sort of energy to act as Mewthree's lifesource... I guess it's hard to explain to anyone who isn't a genetics expert, but without this power boost, Mewthree would have been nothing but a lifeless corpse, no more powerful than a lowly Metapod. _

"_For obvious reasons, I was hesitant to admit my failure to the Boss, but eventually had to face the music. That's when I realized just how serious the Boss was about his goals of world power. He simply chuckled when I told him I didn't have sufficient power to activate my monster. _

"_That's when he showed me the epicenter, the source of his entire operation. That's when he brought me into his office, closed the door, and showed me this..."_

The group watched in awe as Kim took her hand out of her coat pocket, clutching the most vibrant and beautiful red, glowing jewel they had ever seen. It was probably only slightly bigger than a standard pokéball, but it glowed so brightly that the entire room around Moss was now tinted red. The woman looked like she was holding a miniature sun in her hands.

"_For obvious reasons, this orb astounded me with the apparent energy it held. He handed it to me, and instantly, I could feel its warmth, its pulse... it was almost as though it was alive._

"_I asked the Boss where he got such a unique stone, and was very surprised that he told me. Many years ago... I'm not sure how long exactly... before the Boss ever had these kinds of lofty aspirations of world power, he was the head of a very successful and wealthy oil drilling corporation. And during an expedition at Yoshii Mountain, his team unearthed this mystical jewel that was buried in the solid rock. He apparently kept it a secret for all these years. _

"_That's all I really know about it, but once I got the orb back to the lab and started running some tests, it was clear that this was no ordinary rock. The levels of raw energy that this jewel possessed were through the roof! I knew it was just what I needed to bring my creation to life!_

"_But for as strange as this all seemed to me by this point, an even weirder thing happened when I tried to harness the orb's power. I ran every sort of lab test on this thing that I knew, but nothing I did gave me any sort of clue as to what in the world it was. _

"_More importantly, I was having a hard time figuring out how I was going to use that energy to power my monster. But that problem was soon solved for me. Almost immediately upon holding this orb near the lifeless body of M3 lying on the operating table, something happened that I still am unable to explain."_

Ash and his friends watched Kim walk across her dimly lit laboratory as the camera followed her. Her black high heels clicked and clacked against the floor with each long-legged step she took. Finally, she stopped next to a waist-high operating table, like at a hospital. The surface was covered with a white sheet, but there was obviously some sort of body lying underneath.

"_Allow me to show you." _

Kim ceremoniously held the red-glowing orb out over the sheet-covered body on the table. Instantly, the jewel's brightness intensified tenfold in her hand, nearly whiting out the entire camera shot as Ash and the others watched. When the blinding light had finally dissipated and the group could again see what was happening on the screen, the woman's hand was empty.

She retracted her outstretched arm. The group stared in awe as they saw what had happened. Underneath the white sheet, they could now see a faint red glow as if the orb had magically transported itself from Kim hand. The brightness of the muffled light was gradually increasing and decreasing back and forth like a flashing railroad light. The female professor promptly backed away from the table and out of the picture as the camera stayed focused on the body beneath the sheet.

"_I give you... Mewthree," _Moss' voice bellowed, sounding rather satisfied.

Almost right on cue, the flashing red light underneath the sheet stopped and blazed more brightly than ever. The being underneath the white cover began to stir, slowly and softly at first, but suddenly it shot up off the table like a slingshot. After the sheet had fallen off of the creature and onto the floor, Ash and his friends were stunned by what they saw.

A bi-pedal, feline creature with a gray-colored body and long muscular tail stood menacingly on the laboratory floor. There was a blinding red light glowing in its chest like its heart was an exploding star. Ash, Misty and Brock immediately recognized that this creature looked very similar to the Mewtwo that they remembered except that its facial features and appendages weren't as defined, and its color wasn't quite the same. And then there was its red glowing heart, presumably the orb, which had buried itself inside Mewthree's chest.

"_Obviously, you have seen that the red jewel seems to have been absorbed into Mewthree's previously lifeless body, almost like a parasite taking over a host. As you can see, it had enough energy to bring M3 to life!" _Kim announced, speaking quickly with a slight tone of fear in her voice. _"But that's not all..."_

The Pokémon let loose a wholehearted roar as it flexed its muscles and whipped its tail. It's ruby heart glowing as bright as ever, Mewthree began to grow! It almost looked like a normal Pokémon during the evolution process. Its entire body became engulfed in a bright aura of light energy as it drastically increased in size. When the evolution stopped, what was left standing in view was truly a terrifying sight.

Mewthree roared again, this time with a far more baritone and fierce voice. Its wide mouth now held a long row of razor-sharp teeth. It now stood nearly three times as high, almost too big to get on camera. The monster's arms and legs looked like tree trunks after their sudden growth spurt. Huge, sickle-like claws were now protruding out of its digits on both its arms and legs. It whipped its huge tail once again, this time crushing the floor of the lab on impact.

"_This is simply amazing!" _Kim said, sounding excited despite the fact that this wasn't the first time she'd seen this gruesome transformation. _"I have no idea why or how, but the energy from inside the Yoshii Island orb was suddenly and instantly absorbed by my Mewthree creation. There's simply no scientific precedent for this... Fossil fuels need to be burned. Other types of energy need to be harnessed. But for whatever reason, the energy inside this orb began to feed my beast all on its own." _

Ash and the others were utterly speechless. There it was. The M3 they had seen destroy Sapphire Stadium just a few days ago. They recognized its shape and terrifying claws. M3 had been created by Kimberly Moss! She had recreated Dr. Fugi's attempt at genetically cloning and enhancing the legendary Mew. But Professor Moss had taken it a step further. The mysteriously magical orb had not only brought the beast to life, but it had transformed it into the truly frighteningly fierce killing machine that they had witnessed.

"_Now, that I've demonstrated how M3 was created, why don't we switch over to some video of my monster in action. I am now going to show you how powerful this Pokémon can be."_

The laptop video went black for a few seconds before coming back on. Professor Moss was now standing in some sort of huge, wide-open area that was dimly lit. It looked like an enormous concrete gymnasium or airplane hangar. Large blazing torches lined the cement and metal walls of the stadium-sized open area, providing the only light.

_"Demonstration one," _Moss said to the camera. _"Transformation and obedience." _

The camera panned over to see Mewthree's enormous body standing at one end of the empty concrete hangar. Its glowing heart dwarfed the dim light provided by torches in the background.

"_It's amazing. Not only was my Mewthree creation transformed into this super-Pokemon by the power of the orb, but it apparently made it completely obedient to whatever I command it. Right away after it had first transformed, I was obviously concerned that it might be too powerful and dangerous to handle, but I figured out right away that it obeys me. I and only I can tell M3 to do whatever I want and it will do so. Observe."_

Moss turned to face M3, who was standing probably fifty yards away.

"_Mewthree! Approach me!" _

Upon command, the bi-pedal creature began to stomp towards her, destroying the concrete floor in the process like it was walking on thin ice. It's heart and eyes again were glowing red as it plodded ahead.

"_Mewthree! Fall back!" _

Again, the Pokémon obeyed. It stopped and returned to its original position.

"_As you can see, M3 obeys my every command without hesitation. The interesting part... well, not that this entire weird situation isn't all interesting and mind-blowing... the interesting part is that Mewthree will not obey anyone except for me. Watch."_

A young man, also wearing a white lab coat, presumably one of Moss' assistants, walked into the picture. He came and stood next to Moss before turning to yell in M3's direction.

"_Mewthree, approach me!" _he shouted just as Moss had done earlier.

And just as Kim had said, the creature was completely unresponsive to the man's commands. The towering beast simply stood its ground.

"_See? Only me." _Moss said before turning to command the monster once again. _"Mewthree, come over here!"_

Of course, the Pokémon obliged since it had been Kim who had shouted. It again started stomping across the hangar towards her. While it made its way over to her, Kim continued on with her video demonstration.

"_But, now let me take this opportunity to demonstrate perhaps the most amazing part of our project. This was a complete accident that we found this out, but... as easily as Mewthree had been transformed... it can be put to sleep, as I like to say." _

As Mewthree stood before the woman, it towered over her. She commanded it to bend down so that she could reach its chest. She reached her hand into the bright red light and pulled out the glowing orb like she was picking an apple off a tree. Instantly after the orb was removed from its chest, the enormous creature collapsed to the ground. It gradually shriveled back into the sickly-looking replica of Fugi's clone, diminishing greatly in size as it lay lifeless on the cement.

"_It's amazing isn't it! I am actually able to remove the orb from its chest to turn the beast off, so to speak. Simply unbelievable!" _she exclaimed, obviously very excited by all the amazing details she had unearthed about the creature. _"Basically, I'm able to bring M3 to life and put it to sleep whenever I wish. As you can see, once the orb is removed, it returns to its previous, less imposing state."_

"I can't believe what we're watching!" Max shouted, not caring anymore about getting shushed. "Orbs? Genetically enhanced clone Pokémon? Transformation? Is this video even real?"

"It is a bit over-the-top, isn't it?" May replied skeptically.

"I believe it," Misty said flatly, thinking of her dream about "The Sacred Gift" and the Four Guardians and about Ash being resurrected by the power of some coin several days ago. She knew that strange and seemingly unbelievable things were happening all over the place recently. Compared to the recent events, this didn't seem all that farfetched to her.

"I do too," Ash agreed. After the past few weeks he had gone through, he wasn't willing to disregard anything as impossible.

"_But get this!" _Moss' voice on the laptop brought everyone's attention back to the video. _"We were curious to see whether or not M3 would obey other people... namely the Boss... or if it would only obey me no matter what..." _

Moss handed the red jewel to her male assistant, the same guy who had previously tried to command Mewthree. He walked over to where the shriveled creature was lying on the ground, and he held the orb over its chest. Predictably, the orbs energy was again absorbed into its body just like before, reviving the beast into its larger and fiercer form.

"_Now, watch this," _Moss said, looking up at the newly revived M3. _"Mewthree! Go to the other end of the hangar!" _

This time, the super-clone did nothing when its creator ordered. It simply stood and stared back at the humans without making a move.

"_Okay, now watch what happens when he commands it." _

"_Mewthree!" _the man shouted. _"Fall back! Get into position on the far end!" _

The creature promptly went back to the far end of the hangar as commanded.

"_As you can see, it appears as though whoever is holding the orb and activates Mewthree with it is the only one who can control it. Fascinating stuff, isn't it? We also discovered that only the person who brings it to life can reach in and deactivate it. Watch." _

Moss carefully reached up and tried to grab the orb out of the creature's chest like she had done before. But this time, she wasn't able to grasp it. It wasn't even there as far as she was concerned. There was only red light inside of a hole in M3's chest where she reached, nothing solid to touch at all. Moss' assistant then reached into the same spot and pulled the orb out with no problem. He clutched the glittery jewel and handed it back to the woman as the Pokémon once again shrank and fell unconsciously to the floor.

"_All right," _Moss said, turning towards the camera again looking awfully impressed with herself. _"To recap, it looks like whoever activates Mewthree is the only one whom it will obey. That person is also the only one who can deactivate it. These were obviously key findings for us because now we know that the Boss will be able to use M3 however he wishes. Again, I have no idea how or why this orb works, but I'm glad that it is._

"_All right. That's enough of the simple walking around back and forth for our pet. It's time to see what it can really do. The next demonstration will be a bit more exciting, I promise."_

The screen again went black for a second or two before returning back in the same hangar. This time, M3 was standing on the concrete across the way, probably fifty yards away from another Pokémon. Mewthree was now wearing some sort of metal contraption on its face like a mask. The group instantly recognized this strange metal that covered its head. They had seen it wearing it during its globally televised attack on Sapphire Stadium. Here on the video, its fiery red eyes were still visible through the tangle of steel on its head, and it still looked incredibly imposing.

"_That electronic device you see on Mewthree's head is just a little something I threw together to help it focus its attacks a little better. As you will be able to see, its special attacks are so powerful that sometimes it gets a little erratic. We want him to be able to accurately strike its opponent with as much force as possible."_

Ash saw that M3's "opponent" was a Graveler, standing opposite of it, probably fifty or seventy yards away. Its rocky exoskeleton matched the color of the concrete floor as it stood at attention.

"_Demonstration two," _Moss announced formally. _"The power of M3."_

Just as Kim was about to order Mewthree to unleash an attack on the poor Graveler, Brock's computer screen went black. This time it stayed that way as the video had apparently cut out.

"Hey! What happened?" Ash shouted when it didn't come back on.

Brock took the disc out of the computer drive to examine it. The others were snapped out of the trance that the incredible video had put them in as they waited for the man to fix the laptop.

"The disc must have gotten all scratched somehow," he said, holding it up to the light. "Oh well, we've seen what this Mewthree can do. We already know what's going to happen to that Graveler..."

"Can you believe all this?" Dawn asked as she stood up to stretch after being in a crouching position for the entire duration of the video. She didn't want to think about what had happened to the Graveler.

"Yeah, I'm not quite sure what to make of it," May replied. "Team Rocket must have kidnapped Lexi's sister and forced her to create Mewthree."

"Yeah, but she seemed like she was on board with whatever plan they were concocting. And Kim said herself that since she was the one to use the orb on M3, she was the only one who could control it. If she was there against her will, she coulda just-"

"Ash!" Misty hissed, cutting the boy off in the middle of his thought. She gave a him a scolding look as she tried to speak in a low, quiet tone so Lexi wouldn't hear. "Lexi is right here, Ash. You shouldn't be accusing her sister of working with Team Rocket. It's her sister!"

But Misty apparently hadn't been quiet enough. Lexi replied coldly, speaking for the first time in quite some time.

"They kidnapped her, Ash," she insisted, still staring off into space. "I know Kim. There's _no_ way she'd ever willingly have anything to do with this. They must have threatened to kill her."

Ash, Misty, May, Max, Dawn and Brock all remained silent, not sure of what to say exactly. None of them was sure about anything anymore. They were still trying to mentally process what they had just watched.

"We've got to leave now and get to the Cahill Islands and rescue her from Team Rocket before it's too late!" Lexi continued on. Tears were beginning to fall down her cheeks. "If they're holding Cynthia and Lance there, Kim must be there too!"

"I think she's right!" Max said, again showing his youthful exuberance. "We were about to go there anyway before we even saw that video. We have even more reason to go there now!"

"Kir!" his Kirlia matched the boy's excitement.

"Now, let's just hold on," Dawn interrupted. "Now that we know what that thing is and how strong it is, I'm not sure we should go out trying to find it."

"I'm not sure we have too many other options at this point, Dawn," Ash replied from his seat on the bed.

"Well, what about that note you got from Professor Willow?" the girl from Twinleaf suggested.

Ash had almost forgotten about Willow and the message he had sent to him asking him to come to Cinnabar Island all alone to meet him. He searched his jeans pocket and pulled out the crumpled piece of paper.

"I thought we had already determined that Willow's invitation seemed way too fishy to trust him," Ash said. "He did seem really strange when I met him at the party."

"But he says he has some information that could be helpful to us," Misty said as she had taken the note from Ash and was skimming through it.

"Yeah, didn't he say something about your father too, Ash?"

"Yeah, he said that it was time that I learned the truth about who I am and where I come from or something," the boy replied. He didn't sound all that convinced by what the Professor had said.

"It says here that Willow thinks the meeting could hold the key to stopping the evil that threatens our world," Misty recited.

"Maybe, it's worth going there instead," Dawn suggestion again.

"No! No! No!" Lexi insisted, sounding more adversarial than normal. "Can't you see it's a trap? Why is Willow telling you to come alone to Cinnabar Island if it wasn't? He's working for Team Rocket, Ash!"

Ash was again at a crossroads. He stood by his friends, tapping his foot against the hardwood floor as he pondered. He thought about the photograph Willow had given him... the one of Ash as a toddler sitting on his father's lap. He thought about everything he thought he knew about his father. Did Willow really have some sort of life-changing news to share with him? Or was he indeed just trying to bait Ash into leaving the safety of Oak's lab? Ash thought hard about what the group's next move should be.

After weighing their options, Ash eventually began walking towards the door. He motioned for everyone to follow.

"We're going to Viridian City," he announced. "We'll get Lexi's psychic-Pokémon, and we'll use them to get to the Cahill Islands. Whatever Professor Willow has to tell me, it can wait until we save Lance, Cynthia and the others."

"Thank you Ash!" Lexi said gratefully.

Everyone nodded, knowing that once Ash made his mind up about something, it was basically pointless to argue. With that, they all stood up and strapped up their backpacks in preparation for their most dangerous adventure ever. They all took a collective deep breathe, knowing now that there was no turning back.

"All right, everyone be quiet," Ash whispered as the group exited his room and headed towards the lab's front door. "If my mom or Professor Oak wakes up, we're toast."

"They're gonna be furious," Dawn said nervously as she tiptoed along with the rest of the group down the hallway and towards the exit.

"Yeah," Brock said, "Are we sure this is such a good idea?"

"Of course we aren't sure, Dummy." Misty turned around and hissed at Brock. "But we're going!"

"Shhh!" Ash hushed them as they reached the front door. He held it open as Misty, Brock, May, Max, Dawn and Lexi all exited the building and walked into the cool, dark night. Pikachu, Kirlia and Dawn's Piplup also scampered their way out, trying their best to move as quietly as possible. After everyone else had made it outside, Ash turned to look behind him to make sure no one had seen them leave before he too rushed through the door, latching it behind him.

The air was chilly and silhouettes of a few wispy, dark clouds in the black sky were made evident by the pearly white glow of the bright crescent moon.

Ash led the way as the group of seven made their way down the well-groomed pathway leading from Oak's lab and towards the front gate. As they walked, May took one last glance back at the laboratory. She slowed her stride when she thought she saw someone staring out at them through one of the second-story windows. She stopped completely, when she was sure that it was Tracey and his unmistakable brown locks of long hair, who was glaring down at the group from one of the upstairs rooms.

He was emotionless as he met eyes with May. She felt a chill, perhaps from the stiff nighttime breeze or perhaps from the ominous way that the boy was looking down at her from the yellowy-lit room in the lab. She watched as Tracey took his cell phone out of his front pocket and raised it to his ear before slowly turning around and walking away from the window.

Who was he calling? Why had he been watching them?

May turned and ran to catch up with the others, who had since made their way past the metal entrance gate at the end of the path. She didn't know what to think about what she had just seen, other than that she hoped Tracey would not alert Delia or Professor Oak of the gang's absence. She decided to ignore it. Ash had plenty to worry about already without having to listen to her stress out about this.

From Oak's lab, Ash led the gang north along Route One towards Viridian City. Even in the dark of night, Ash recognized nearly every grassy meadow, every worn path, and every stretch of trees from the day he had first traveled from his hometown of Pallet to Viridian City on his tenth birthday.

"I'm cold, Ash," Lexi said as she sped up to walk beside him.

Ash turned to look at the girl and smiled. She looked absolutely radiant in the moon light, just as she had during the previous night after his party… even more so now that her long, shimmering brown hair was gently blowing in the wind and the moonlight was sparkling magnificently in her gorgeous eyes. The teen definitely felt out of his element whenever he looked at Lexi like this. For much of his life, his sole focus had been catching Pokemon and winning gym battles, and this new-found interest in girls was certainly new and unusual to him. But what could he do about it?

"Ahem!" Misty loudly cleared her throat as she ran up, obviously trying to get Ash's attention.

"Ash," Misty said, trying to wedge herself in between him and Lexi as they walked. "What exactly is the plan of attack once we get to the Cahill Islands?"

Ash slowed down, pondering what Misty had just asked.

"That's a good question," was all he could come up with.

Truthfully, Ash had been so caught up in everything else that had happened that night, that he really hadn't given much to exactly how they were going to rescue Lance, Cynthia and the other trainers once they got there.

"I guess I haven't really thought about it," Ash admitted. "I suppose we'll just have to wing it."

Misty rolled her eyes, but giggled. "Why am I not surprised. You haven't changed a bit."

Everyone else laughed.

Suddenly a vicious cackle from behind them made everyone jump. The group stopped in their tracks. Misty and Lexi each grabbed one of Ash's arms, and the whole group turned to see who was behind them.

A group of about a dozen or so dark figures were standing in the shadows of the tall trees along the dirt path. Again, a sinister chuckle came from one of the faceless profiles. Finally, the group stepped out into the moonlight. Twelve men, all wearing black with the all-too-familiar red 'TR' logo on their chests, showed themselves along with their pack of fearsome Pokémon.

Ash scowled at them, recognizing their uniforms right away. Pikachu sprang to the front of the group, its cheeks sparking wildly. Dawn and May both yelped fearfully. Brock and Max slowly reached into their pockets for their pokéballs.

"Well, well, well," one of the agents said casually. "Ash Ketchum... We've been expecting you."

"What are you talking about?" Ash demanded angrily, trying to shield the others from the agents. "What are you doing here?"

"Stupid boy," another one of the soldiers remarked snidely. "We're here for _you_! We've been waiting all night!"

Ash didn't fully understand how these agents could have known he and the others would be here tonight, but he concluded that it didn't matter now. He was thankful that he didn't see Mewthree with them. Pikachu bared its tiny teeth and growled, sparks still flying out of its cheeks.

"Our Boss wants to talk to you about something Ketchum. So why don't you just come with us, and none of your friends here have to get hurt! I wouldn't want to see anything bad happen to your pretty lil' girlfriends here!" the agent said smugly as he pointed at Dawn, Misty, May and Lexi.

"We're not scared of you, you creep!" Misty shouted as she bravely stepped forward, clutching one of her pokéballs in her hand. "If you want Ash, you're gonna have to go through all of us!"

The agents all chuckled once again, looking at each other in amusement.

"Gladly!"

**_TO BE CONTINUED:_**

* * *

_There you have it! Thanks for reading everyone! Please take a minute or two to leave a review!_

_Any thoughts, suggestions, criticism, etc is MUCH appreciated :)_


	21. Chapter Twenty: Route One Rumble!

_Sorry for the long layoff. Work and girlfriend obligations have stalled me XD_

_Incidentally, this is the story's shortest chapter, but only because the story dictates it. I assure you the next chapter will be longer. _

_THANK YOU to all who have taken the time to read!_

_PLEASE take an additional few seconds to leave a reivew :)_

_I LOVE YOU ALL! Now..._

* * *

**CHAPTER TWENTY: ROUTE ONE RUMBLE**

By Legacy

* * *

Four pokéballs flew up into the air, disappearing from view as they sailed into the dark night sky. Four bright flashes of white light then exploded, materializing on the ground in front of the group of teenagers.

Jigglypuff, Golduck, Glaceon and Sudowoodo joined Kirlia, Piplup and Pikachu in standing on guard in front of their respective trainers. The Pokémon and the teens stared across the grassy knoll at their opponents. Of course, these opponents were not competing with them just to win some trophy or gym badge.

The five Team Rocket agents that had been sent to capture Ash stood across from them, looking especially devilish and intimidating as they stood in the shadows. They, along with their own team of imposing Pokémon, had their faces hidden by the midnight darkness. Only the partially hindered moonlight made their silhouettes and this grassy battlefield the least bit visible.

"Isn't that cute?" the male agent at the head of the Rocket team scoffed. "They each have a little Pokémon to protect them!"

The agent's cohorts all chuckled in unison.

"Look, kids," a snooty female agent sneered from the shadows. "We don't want to have to hurt anyone here tonight. Ketchum, just come with us to our headquarters and none of your little friends here have to get killed."

Despite the fact that Ash would have been willing to sacrifice himself for his friends' safety, he was still feeling extremely confident that they could defeat this small team of agents if they tried. What exactly did they want with him anyway? Even despite his strong showing at the tournament, it wasn't like Ash Ketchum was a household name. But he couldn't think about that right now. The electric feeling of adrenaline from before was still pumping through his veins mightily. For whatever reason, he knew they were going to win this fight... he could just feel it.

"Forget it!" Dawn shouted angrily before Ash could respond to the agent. "He isn't going anywhere with you! There's seven of us and five of you! I like our chances!"

"Ariados! Teach that bitch to keep her mouth shut!" a different agent suddenly roared from the shadows. "Use Poison Jab!"

A sickly purple glow began to illuminate the dark area where Team Rocket stood probably fifty feet away from Ash and his friends. The poisonous bug's eight legs looked like they had burst into violet flames. Then, like a cannon ball, Ariados lunged towards Dawn and Piplup. Ash reacted quickly, however, and called upon Pikachu to launch an attack.

"Pikachu! Th– "

Amazingly, Pikachu had also reacted at precisely the same time as Ash. Before the boy could even utter his command, the electric mouse had fired a crackling bolt of electricity from his cheeks, knocking the zooming arachnid-Pokémon out of midair and sending it crashing to the ground. It landed in a crumpled heap about halfway in between Team Rocket and the teens. Ash was a little taken aback at how Pikachu had appeared to have acted on his own accord. It was like the electric mouse had been able to read Ash's mind. He was definitely shocked, but regardless of what had happened, he was glad it had worked.

"Fuckin' kids!" one of the agents bellowed in anger when he had seen Ash disobey their orders.

"These punks are actually going to fight us!" another yelled in a surprised tone.

"Fine with me! The boss did say that if the kid didn't cooperate we should just kill them all."

Ash turned his navy blue baseball cap backwards so his peripheral vision wouldn't be blocked by the bill. His heart pounded. He knew what was coming. It was time to battle.

Instantly, Ash felt the most peculiar sensation tingle down his spine. He looked down at his feet to see his Pikachu looking up at him confidently. The two longtime friends met eyes briefly, and in that moment, they both felt as though they had some sort of mental or spiritual connection with one another. Both human and Pokémon felt the strange synergy at the same time. With a slight nod to one another, both Ash and Pikachu felt as though they were now able to communicate inaudibly, almost as though they were inside each others minds.

"Magmortar! Let's fry these kids with a Flamethrower!" Ash heard one of the Rockets bellow from across the area.

As the boy heard the agent's command, he suddenly felt something in his jeans pocket start to pulsate like crazy. It felt like a vibrating cellular phone against his thigh. But of course, Ash knew right away what it was. It was the coin. And it was getting hotter and hotter, nearly enough to burn right through his pants.

But despite how hot the coin's surface was getting, Ash did not feel pain at all. In fact, strangely, the burning felt good. It felt invigorating, like the prickly heat was energizing Ash even more. The boy felt this energy inside his body building and building like a deep breath.

"Now, Magmortar! Fire!"

A loud roar was followed by the whooshing sound of the glowing flames flying towards Ash and his friends like neon-orange liquid.

Once again, before Ash could shout for Pikachu to do something, Pikachu did something. Ash felt all that pent-up energy from the coin instantly released from his body. He watched in awe as the biggest explosion of electricity he had ever seen erupted from Pikachu's cheeks. Not only did the enormous electric display extinguish the fire attack, but it also took out Magmortar and several of the other Pokémon as well as a few of the agents.

Ash didn't know what exactly had happened. He definitely felt the thunderous attack coming out of him, but yet, it hadn't. It had come from Pikachu.

Ash's friends stood in amazement, as did the remaining Team Rocketeers. Even though the teens all knew how strong Pikachu had become over the years, the amount of power that the Pokémon had just exerted was incredible even for him. Strangely, Ash felt a bit fatigued after the unusual electric attack, despite the fact that he hadn't been the one to conjure it. He could tell though, that Pikachu was feeling the exact same way.

Luckily, Ash's friends – who had since composed themselves after Pikachu's mysterious outburst – jumped right in for their heavy-breathing companions.

"Piplup! Use Bubble Beam!"

"Glaceon! Use Ice Beam!

In graceful fashion, Dawn and May's Pokémon both obliged and fired their respective attacks in the direction of the three remaining Team Rocket agents and their Pokémon. Like a dazzling contest combination, Glaceon's silvery beam of energy zoomed past and through Piplup's stream of bubbles. The subzero energy of the Ice Beam froze them into solid balls of ice. The barrage of ice spheres hurtled towards the agents like rock-hard canon balls.

While two of the three remaining agents were able to dive out of the way of the speeding orbs, one of them was not so lucky. A loud scream was followed by several sickening sounds of ice hitting bone, as it was clear that the frozen bubbles had struck the Rocket's body or head. Ash heard a thud as the bludgeoned agent collapsed unconsciously to the ground.

Moments later, the fallen agent's Pokémon, which revealed itself to be an Aggron when it stomped out of the shadows and into the moonlight, roared in anger at the kids for hurting its master. Without warning, the bulky creature charged the group like a battering ram. It lowered its iron-hard skull as it lumbered towards Ash and his friends, exposing the sharp horns of steel on its head."

"Golduck! Stop that thing with Confusion!"

Misty's web-footed fighter grunted obligingly. Its ruby-like eyes began to flash like strobe lights, and the matching jewel on its forehead emitted a strange pulse of energy. As soon as the Rockets' Aggron locked eyes with Golduck, the steel-type monster began to stumble. Looking hazy and stupefied from Misty's attack, the bulky beast looked like it was drunk as it wobbled uneasily. Seizing the opportunity, Brock called for his Pokémon to finish Aggron.

"Sudowoodo! Use Sucker-punch!"

Brock's towering, log-shaped battler took a running start at the woozy Aggron and reared its club-like fist back before punching the confused Pokémon square in the face. Unable to brace itself under its confounded state, Aggron was immediately knocked out cold.

By this time, the youngest battler of them all, Max, was going toe-to-toe with the final two agents with Ash by his side. Kirlia and Pikachu both had unyielding expressions on their faces as they prepared to do battle.

"You're gonna let that little one die for you, Ketchum? Wouldn't it be far more honorable to just surrender and come with us?"

"Oh, can it, jerk-offs!" Max roared. "I can take care of myself."

The two agents merely chuckled at the foolish child's bravado. Even though the agents' faces weren't discernible in the dark, Ash could tell by their body language that they were done messing around. They definitely weren't going to take it easy on Max simply because of his age.

"You asked for it, kid," one of them said almost regretfully before both agents bellowed.

"Alakazam! Shoot 'em with a Psybeam!"

"Cloyster! Aurora Beam!"

Both beasts obeyed their masters, and fired twin beams of energy towards Ash, Max and their Pokémon. Pikachu and Ash, who were both still acting in sync with each other's thoughts, easily jumped out of the way of the speeding attacks. Max and Kirlia however, weren't so lucky. The eleven-year-old, who wasn't as athletic as Ash, did not react in time.

Ash and Pikachu stared in horror as they watched Max thrown backward like he had been hit by a truck. The blinding explosion of the two attacks had drowned out the boy's brief whimpering as he crash landed on the ground probably twenty feet away. Kirlia lay motionless on the ground as well.

Of course, by this time, the rest of the group had turned to notice what was going on.

"Max!" the boy's sister screamed. The shrill tone of terror in her voice echoed in the night.

May turned and sprinted desperately to try to find where her brother had landed. Ash wanted to follow her. He wanted to make sure that Max was alive. He hoped against hope that he had been able to survive the blast. But the two Rocket agents who were still left standing would not just sit back and wait for them to tend to Max.

"Ketchum! Just surrender yourself. Don't let any more of your friends get hurt!"

Ash's blood was boiling by now. How dare they act so disrespectfully after doing what they had done. He felt the rage building in him. He tried his hardest to not let his anger cloud his judgment. What was the best move here? Should he just surrender himself? Ash pondered for a few seconds. If he just went with the agents, the rest of the group would be able to rush Max back to Professor Oak's lab without resistance. Besides, Ash would have the coin to keep him safe.

"Pikapi!"

Ash's thoughts were interrupted by Pikachu's voice. He looked down to see his friend looking up at him with a stern expression. Defiantly, the rodent shook his head as if to remind his trainer why they had left the relative safety of the laboratory in the first place. And as their strange mental bond continued, Ash realized that Pikachu was right. Lance and Cynthia. Who would be left to try to save them and the other imprisoned trainers if Ash just surrendered? Max definitely wouldn't want him to give up.

"He's alive!" Ash heard May sobbing from somewhere off in the bushes interrupt. "He's bleeding pretty bad though!"

A mixture of relief and fear rushed over Ash. But he had to stay focused. If he wasn't going to hand himself over, he needed to be able to fend off Team Rocket long enough so that they could get Max to safety.

"May! Get Max back to Professor Oak's!" Ash shouted, not daring to take his eyes off Team Rocket.

Without answering, May quickly released a large red-feathered, bipedal Pokemon from its pokéball and commanded it to pick her little brother's bleeding body up off the ground. Then, the two of them, followed by Glaceon, ran off into the night.

Now, so angry that he could hardly contain himself, Ash turned and shot a glare so nasty towards the two men that he swore that he could sense the slightest bit of uneasiness come across them from where they stood. The coin was now burning so hot that Ash could smell smoke coming off his jeans. He felt the same energized feeling as before, only this time, it was must more intense. Perhaps it was coin; perhaps it was rage.

"You..." Ash growled as he gritted his teeth. "... Should not have done that!"

Even Misty, Dawn and Brock were a bit surprised by Ash's uncharacteristic fury. Pikachu stood in front of Ash with his tiny teeth bared and threatening sparks twinkling near his cheeks.

"Who's next, Ketchum? Perhaps the cute red-head?" the male agent taunted, as though he had not seen what Pikachu had done to his fellow agents before. "Who else will have to pay for your stubbornness?"

"You're not going to hurt any more of my friends!" Ash roared, pointing threateningly towards the two men.

"PI-KACHU!"

Without verbal order, Pikachu let loose another enormous explosion of electricity towards the agents. This one was even more intense and powerful than the last. Again, Ash felt the outburst of energy as though he had been the one to produce it. The darkness of night was temporarily gone as the lightning blinded everyone. The sound of the blast made the agents' screams barely audible.

When the electricity finally subsided and the darkness returned, the final two agents were lying in a motionless heap on the ground, their black blazers smoking from being burned. Ash, again feeling strangely fatigued following Pikachu's uncanny outburst of power, looked all around him. He noticed that Lexi, Dawn, Brock and Misty were giving him suspicious looks. If they had simply shrugged off Pikachu previous Thunderbolt as nothing but an anomaly, they definitely weren't going to this time.

Ash, trying to hide how heavily he was breathing, gave the four teens a nervous smile before walking across the field to check on all five unconscious agents and their fainted Pokémon. Sure enough, they had managed to incapacitate all of them.

Instantly, Ash's thoughts turned to Max. Had May and Blaziken managed to get him safely back to Professor Oak's lab? Was he still... still alive? Ash hadn't even seen how bad Max's injuries had been, and that aura of mystery was terrifying to him. After all, Max was much too young to even be going on a mission like this.

Ash pondered what they should do next. His mother and the professor undoubtedly knew about the teens' plan to sneak off by now. They definitely wouldn't be happy. Especially now since Max had been hurt. Should they just return to the lab and hope that someone else would be able to save Team Rocket's prisoners? But even before he finished asking himself the question, he knew the answer. As Ash felt the gold coin in his pocket gradually cooling in temperature, he knew deep down that if anyone could stop what was going on in the world, it was him.

He knew they didn't have much time if they wanted to get to Viridian City and eventually the Cahill Islands. But Ash felt like they should... like they had to go back and at least check on Max.

"Ash?" Misty spoke softly as though she didn't want to interrupt.

"Is everyone okay?" Ash replied, still thinking about what they should do about Max.

"Yeah," everyone replied, sounding rather somber in the wake of what had happened to their youngest companion.

"Ash," Lexi said cautiously and quietly. "I'm sorry about your friend, but I think we should press on. Lance and Cynthia don't have much time."

Misty and Dawn both glared at Lexi.

"Who cares about that? Ash! Max is our friend! What if he's-"

"I can go back and help," Brock suggested. "May said he was still alive before she left. If they were able to control the bleeding, I can try to stabilize him."

"That's a good idea, Brock," Lexi said with a nod. She took Ash by the hand, much to the chagrin of Misty and Dawn, and tried to pull him along with her down Route One. But Ash's legs remained cemented in place as he was deep in thought.

"No," he said finally. "We're going back. I can't go on without knowing whether or not he's okay. He shouldn't have even been out here with us. It was my fault for letting him come."

"Pika!"

Ash took his hand away from Lexi's and turned to walk back towards Pallet Town as Pikachu and the others followed behind. Misty and Dawn seemed relieved that Ash had made this choice. It would have been extremely difficult to concentrate on their task at hand while the well-being of one of their own was unknown.

But before the group could get very far, Ash heard a soft almost musical sound begin to chime from behind them. It was like someone was singing. Almost instantly upon hearing the strange song, Ash's eyelids began to get very heavy. What was going on? What was that noise? Before he was even able to turn around to find out the source of the singing, everything went black and his consciousness was gone.

* * *

Lexi stared regrettably at Ash as she watched him and the others fall suddenly asleep and collapse to the ground much as the Team Rocket agents had before.

"Good work, Jiggly," she said as she returned the pink-bodied Pokémon back to its ball.

The long-legged girl walked over to where Ash's body lay, and she gently nudged him with her foot to make sure he was out. When neither the snoring teens nor their Pokémon stirred, she exhaled in relief. Still not daring to take her eyes off Ash, Lexi took a cell phone out of her brassiere and dialed a number.

"I've d-done it," she said meekly with the phone to her ear. "I got him."

The brown-haired girl shivered in the chilly night air as she listened to the response on the other end.

"_Excellent," _was all the gruff male voice said.

Lexi shivered at the sound of mercilessness in the mysterious man's voice who had contacted her a few nights ago claiming to be the kidnapper of her sister. She had been skeptical at first, but once the man revealed that he knew exactly when and where Kimberly had been abducted, Lexi figured he was telling the truth. And then, when she had heard that same voice on television yesterday during the attack on Sapphire Stadium, Lexi knew she had to follow his orders if she ever wanted to see her sister alive again.

"So, what do you want with Ash anyway?" Lexi said, trying to sound as tough as she could.

"_That," _the voice on the phone replied, _"is not your concern, Ms. Moss."_

Even though the man on the other line wasn't yelling or swearing, Lexi could sense the impatience in his voice. She didn't dare try to anger her sister's captor any further.

"Okay, so once I bring him to you, you're going to let my sister go, right?"

The man chuckled before answering, _"Once I have Ketchum in my custody and I can get him to cooperate... then yes, Ms. Moss. I will hand your sister over to you."_

"Cooperate?" Lexi replied, sounding concerned by the word. "How are you going to get him to cooperate? The agents here almost killed his friends and he still wouldn't go with them. He's not going to just give you whatever you want!"

"_Well, for your sister's sake... let's just hope the boy has a change of heart then."_

Panic began to set in for Lexi. She could tell by the scary man's tone that Kim's life depended on whether or not he could get Ash to do his bidding, whatever that was. Lexi didn't have any idea of what this guy wanted from some teenage kid, but she assumed it had something to do with what she saw the first night she had met Ash.

Lexi thought about that strange night when she had seen Ash cheat death. She thought about the strange coin that seemed to have the power to make the boy invincible. Was this why the man wanted Ash? Did he know about the coin and its incredible power?

After a few moments of pondering, Lexi concluded that the man must not have known about it. Surely the five agents whom she had been ordered to lead Ash and his friends to would have demanded the coin right away instead of deciding to try to kill them all if that's what they had been after. No, Lexi concluded, there must be another reason this man wanted Ash.

Either way though, as long as Ash had the coin in his possession, Lexi thought, he would be far less willing to 'cooperate' with Team Rocket. She had seen how defiant and willing to fight Ash had been with the five agents sent to capture him. Lexi couldn't risk that the boy whom she figured fancied himself somewhat of a hero would not cooperate, eliminating the only chance her sister had to live.

Lexi then thought about how Ash had saved her from being raped by a very drunk Zak Seabrook that night and how he had been willing to help her save Kim, and instantly she felt horrible about what she had done and what she was thinking about doing... even if it was to save her sister's life.

"_Ms. Moss?" _she heard the man say on the phone. _"Are you still there?"_

"Yes, I'm here..." Lexi replied, although her voice trailed.

With a deep breathe of finality or maybe reluctance, the girl walked over to Ash and reached her hand inside his jeans pocket and fished around. Just as she had thought, she felt a small, metal object inside. She pulled out the gold coin, which was glimmering in what little moon light there was. She gazed in awe at its beauty that she had failed to notice a the week before when she had recovered the same coin from Ash's guestroom at the Sapphire City Pokémon Center. The five glittering jewels embedded in the gold looked like Christmas lights the way they seemed to shine.

Perhaps, she thought to herself, if Ash did not possess the coin, he wouldn't have the courage to act so cavalier in Team Rocket's custody.

"Sir," Lexi said finally, although it sickened her to address the man in such a reverent manner. "Where should I take him? He won't stay sleeping forever, and I know I won't be able to overpower him once he wakes up."

"_You said you have several Pokémon who know how to use Teleport?"_

"Yes."

"_Good. Are they strong enough to transport both you and the boy?"_

"Definitely."

"_Excellent. Bring him to Mount Moon. It's not too far away. I'll have someone waiting there to bring you and the boy the rest of the way by chopper."_

"Okay," Lexi replied. She was breathing heavily now, filled with emotions both nervous and guilty. But there was no turning back now. She thought about how afraid her big sister must be feeling, and that mental image motivated her.

As Lexi was about to hang up the phone, she stopped. She had been absentmindedly pacing around the sleeping teenagers when she halted right in front of the blue-haired girl in the pink skirt.

An idea popped into her head. She had overheard from Ash's mother at the party about how Ash and this girl, Dawn, had been traveling together for years now. Lexi had seen the jealousy Dawn had looked at her with ever since she had shown up in Pallet Town. Ash hadn't talked a lot about Dawn, but Lexi assumed that he at least felt something for this girl to have been so close with her for so long. Plus, as Lexi realized as she gazed at Dawn's long flowing hair and shapely figure, any teenage boy would love to be with a girl like this.

"Sir, one more thing," Lexi said.

"_What is it?" _he replied gruffly.

"Well, I have Ash's girlfriend here as well," Lexi said, sounding for the first time the slightest bit devious herself. "Perhaps, I should bring her along as well. She could be useful in helping... convince Ash to cooperate, ya know?"

Lexi couldn't be too careful. Between the loss of his precious coin and the threat of Dawn being harmed, Ash would have no choice but to obey whomever this man was.

The man on the phone paused, obviously pondering what Lexi had suggested or perhaps a bit surprised by her willingness to offer up another hostage after her reluctance to betray the boy. After a few seconds he growled approvingly.

"_Perhaps, you are right, Ms. Moss. Good. Bring the girl too, if your Pokémon can manage the extra weight."_

"Shouldn't be a problem."

"_Excellent. Now hurry to Mount Moon. I want Ketchum in my dungeon by daybreak!" _

"What about your agents? They're just kind of lying here. I don't know if they're dead or not, but Ketchum and his friends took them all out. All five of them."

"_Don't worry about them, I'll send for them later. Just get moving!"_

"What about the rest of Ketchum's friends?"

"_Ms. Moss! My patience is wearing! I'm not concerned about some stupid kids. Just bring me Ketchum and the girl, NOW!"_

"Okay, okay. Sorry."

Lexi hung up the phone and replaced it under her shirt. She opened her backpack and dropped Ash's coin inside. She again took a deep breath to collect herself. With her arm still inside the opened bag, the girl pulled out a two pokéballs and tossed them to the ground. They popped open upon contact and two Pokémon emerged.

"Xatu. Claydol. Get ready. We need to go to Mount Moon. Can you guys teleport us there?"

Both Pokémon cried affirmatively in unison, looking pleased to be called upon.

"Good. Let's go."

With that, Lexi gestured for her two psychic-type Pokémon to follow her as she walked over to wear Ash and Dawn were sprawled out on the ground next to each other. She bent down and placed a hand on both of the sleeping teens. She then called for Xatu and Claydol to come near to her. Once they made their way over to their trainer and made contact with her body, the girl commanded.

"All right, Teleport! To Mount Moon!"

With a bright flash of light, the three humans and two Pokémon disappeared from the scene. As soon as they were gone, the darkness returned, leaving Brock, Misty and the unconscious Team Rocket agents – along with everyone's Pokémon – to sleep soundly underneath the starry sky.

* * *

**To be continued...**

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Chapter 21 to follow soon! PLEASE REVIEW :)_


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